Islamabad : Business leader and former President of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt, said on Friday that the decision to increase taxes on salaried employees and industries after failing to achieve tax targets is wrong.
Similarly, he said that proposing a mini-budget is also against the public interest because the masses have lost load-bearing capacity.
Shahid Rasheed Butt said in a statement issued here today that instead of punishing the people, non-tax paying or nominally paying sectors should be targeted, and pressure should be increased on the provinces to increase their revenue.
He said that after the failure of tax targets, the IMF might recommend more unpopular measures for the current quarter as FBR tax recovery, production of major industries, and import targets have not been achieved.
The business leader said that the federal government’s failure to transfer certain expenses to the provinces has also made matters worrisome.
Shahid Rasheed Butt said that the government had assured the IMF that the expenditure on the Benazir Income Support Programme, fertilizer subsidy and the provincial development projects under PSDP will be transferred to the provinces. Still, none of these targets have been achieved.
He added that a primary goal was to pass legislation regarding agricultural income tax by October 30, but no province has yet passed any legislation in this regard.
He said that the IMF had also demanded more taxes on traders, developers, and the real estate sector, while FBR had agreed to collect 50 billion from traders, but nothing had been done in this regard.
Shahid Butt said that the government needs to think hard about its position, where now the IMF does not trust it to take significant decisions without supervision. This indicates the government’s claims of achieving a turnaround are slightly exaggerated.
He said it would be challenging to convince the IMF and get some relief in this scenario.
