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PESHAWAR: As FBR recently made it compulsory upon wholesalers to provide along with their sales tax returns the NIC copies of all persons / firms / businesses making purchases from them, wholesalers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have expressed their concern over the FBR move.
The measure attracted negative reaction from business community, and the wholesalers in KP expressed their inability to provide photocopies of the national identity cards of Afghan businessmen.
The issue came up for discussion here on Thursday at the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry where FBR’s Facilitation and Taxpayer Education Wing arranged an interactive seminar to raise awareness among local businessmen about board’s online facilities, including e-filing of sales tax returns, income tax returns, various types of statements and making online income tax payments, etc.
During the question-answer session, a local businessman told the FBR representatives that the new measure had been causing problems to wholesalers, particularly those dealing with traders from Afghanistan.
“Our 40 to 45 per cent buyers are Afghan traders,” said the SCCI member, adding how can we fulfill the FBR’s requirement when a large number of people purchasing goods from us are not Pakistani citizens.
He informed the FBR authorities that after they raised the matter with relevant sales tax officials, they were told to show their business transactions as exports to Afghanistan.
“It does not make sense to show Rs100,000 to Rs500,000 sales to Afghan businessmen as exports,” said the trader.
The FBR measure, he added, had caused them troubles, risking them to lose Afghan business.
Another SCCI member said the measure would not help the FBR to expand its tax net, because the number of taxpayers cannot be increased by force.
He said the tax rates be brought down to single digit as double digit tax rates could never help make people pay taxes and duties.
High tax rates result in revenue leakages, said the trader.
In response to the complaint, an FBR official acknowledged the local business community’s concern, promising to convey the matter to the board’s higher-ups.
