RAWALPINDI: Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) acting chairperson Nausheen Javed on Friday said the board’s aim was to facilitate the business community through a transparent tax system and emphasised that every sector of economy should play its role to promote tax culture in the country.

“FBR has taken concrete measures to facilitate traders and it always welcomes suggestions and recommendations from the business community,” she said while talking to a five-member delegation from the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) that visited the FBR office.

The delegation included group leader Sohail Altaf, former RCCI president and ISE Towers Real Estate Investment Trust (ISE REIT) Chairman Zahid Latif Khan, Senior Vice President Nosherwan Khalil Khan, Masoom Akhtar and Sagheer Mushtaq.

Zahid Latif Khan gave a brief introduction of the ISE’s Real Estate Investment Trust and lauded the FBR’s initiatives to introduce tax reform.

He highlighted that REIT was the ideal form for documenting the real estate sector which was heavily invested in and therefore FBR should introduce tax reforms which support the growth of REIT sector.

Sohail Altaf highlighted the role of RCCI to encourage tax culture in the business community. He also requested that genuine grievances of the business community should be addressed.

Nosherwan Khalil Khan said raids and closure of business centres gave a negative message and adversely affected the reputation and goodwill of the businesses concerned.

ISE Towers REIT Management Company, formerly known as Islamabad Stock Exchange, was established as a non-banking finance company (NBFC) in January 2016 after the merger of three stock exchanges.

ISE REIT is also planning to launch REIT scheme in Islamabad in the future.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2020