Say collecting provincial taxes their right; want issue
of double taxation resolved; two-day NFC working
groups consultative meeting concludes
LAHORE: The provinces on Tuesday said at the two-day NFC working groups consultative meeting that collecting provincial taxes was their right, and the federal government should not collect them.
A consensus was reached at the meeting held at the Civil Secretariat, Punjab, here on Tuesday that the sales tax net should be extended and issues like double taxation should be resolved at the earliest.
After the conclusion of the meeting on Tuesday, the media was briefed that all the four provinces – Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Punjab – had agreed on bringing the Ninth NFC Award without a fresh population census. The provinces jointly demanded that the Award should be constituted before December this year. Three provinces presented their working papers at the meeting, but the federal government failed to present its working paper.
The four provinces finalised their recommendations at the consultative meeting with consensus, which would be presented to the Federation.
Our correspondent adds: Punjab Finance Minister Dr Aysha Ghous Pasha has said that if the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award is announced after the population census, it will be the best award.
“However, we cannot delay the NFC Award’s announcement till the fresh population census.“The Award is an important factor, and it plays the role of a lifeline for the provinces to get more resources and continue their social sector development projects,” she said at a media briefing after the working groups meeting. She was flanked by ministers of other provinces and officials.
Aysha said that failure to conduct the population census has always affected Punjab’s share the most. However, being the big brother, it has not called for stopping the Award process this time also, like in the past. It has suggested to the federal government to continue with the Award process.
“We have requested the federal government to call the Ninth NFC Award meeting without any delay, as the provinces have done their assigned tasks and they will submit their recommendations by the end of September,” she added.
She also tried to clarify the federal government’s position on the population census, saying that the delay was caused due to logistical issues. “The federal government wants to conduct the population census under the supervision of the army,” she added.
In reply to a question about the Punjab sharing its two percent component of the Seventh NFC Award with Balochistan, the minister said: “It’s too early to say anything about it.”“Once the main meeting of the Ninth NFC Award starts, then we will decide what to sacrifice and what not,” she said.
Finance Division’s Joint Secretary Syed Anwarul Hassan said the participants would share working papers with the stakeholders during this month. He said the Federation was seriously working on the Ninth NFC Award.
KP Finance Minister Muzaffar Said appreciated Punjab for successfully arranging the working groups meeting in Lahore. He stressed the need for jointly working for national security. He said all provinces had timely completed their tasks. He hoped that now the federal government would also call a meeting soon.
Sindh Finance Secretary Syed Hassan Naqvi said that there were only some differences over a few matters, which was very encouraging and a positive thing. He said the positive attitude of all the stakeholders would be helpful in amicably constituting the Ninth NFC Award.
Earlier, the KP representative presented the working group report. All members suggested that the budget estimates should be evaluated in accordance with the provinces’ expenditures after the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which have increased the responsibilities and expenditures of the provinces.