ISLAMABAD – Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Commerce and Textile Industry Senator Mirza Muhammad Afridi we are proud of the services rendered by the business community and we acknowledge their role in the national development.
He said that the limping economy can come out of the stagflation if businesses are allowed to operate otherwise poverty, unemployment and anxiety with continue to increase.
Presiding over a meeting of the standing committee, the Senator said that the tax system has pushed the business community to the edge, therefore, taxes must be reduced and the procedure should be made simple.
Leaders of the business community who met COAS and PM and top officials including advisors for finance, commerce, chairman FBR was also present on the occasion.
Senator Mirza Muhammad Afridi said that revenue cannot be increased amid shrinking GDP and the gulf between tax collectors and taxpayers is widening.
He noted that costly energy, interest rates, absence of continuity in policies, and instability has broken the back of the business community while FBR is treating businessmen as enemies.
Why taxes are collected from exporters when it has to be refunded, he said, adding that delayed payments of refunds is hitting the export sector badly, he added.
The Senator noted that the business community is looking for resolution of their problems and they are not interested in hollow assurances, therefore, all the concerned departments should do their best to stop the economic collapse.
If we failed to allay concerns of the business community, they would lose more in the export market while there is possibility of an exodus of industries to other countries, he warned.
He observed that NIC condition has shaken the foundations of the economy and directed chairman FBR to find an acceptable solution within ten days. “The session of the committee will continue unless problems of traders are resolved and I will personally take up the issues with the PM,” he announced.
At the occasion, the business leaders including Mian Usman Zulfiqar said that businesses and industrial units are bring closed under tax burden. They called for immediate steps to avoid an irreparable loss to the economy.
