FTO to send proposals to FBR to facilitate business community

LAHORE (APP): Minister of State and Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) Dr Asif Mahmood Jah said on Monday that the Ombudsman Secretariat will send a set of concrete and viable proposals to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for incorporating in the upcoming budget for facilitating the business community.

Presiding over a high-level central advisory committee meeting here, he sought budget proposals from presidents of chambers of chamber and industry, tax bar associations, trade bodies ,APTMA and other stakeholders.

President Lahore Chamber Kashif Anwar suggested facilitating businessmen paying sales tax and the government must ensure ease of doing business in a congenial environment by taking stakeholders into confidence. He further stated that solar industry should not be subjected to unnecessary taxation rather than it must be fully encouraged to promote solarisation in all sectors to overcome power scarcity.

Malik Manzoor Ahmad, Rehman Aziz Chan, Mian Waqar Ahmad and a number of trade leaders across the province through video link shared their proposals and discussed in detail focusing on the introduction of result-oriented economic reforms. They also highlighted the importance of broadening the tax net throughout the country.

Ms Huxaima Bukhari represented women entrepreneurs and demanded special initiatives for engaging women in mainstream industries.

Dr Asif Mahmood Jah said that FTO is committed to addressing the genuine grievances of the business community on top priority especially tax-related issues of malpractice and maladministration by the tax collectors.

He said that he always attached great importance to taxpayers and an all-out effort was made to solve issues without loss of time.

He said first time in history FTO Advisors provided relief to thousands of aggrieved tax payers at their doorstep, which is a record.

The FTO directed his Advisors to sum up budget proposals and compile within a couple of days for immediate submission to the FBR. Advisors Ms Adeela Rehman, Khalid Javed, Dr Waqarullah Chaudhry and others were also present.