SAI chief demands withdrawal of SRO-350

KARACHI: President of the Site Association of Industry (SAI) Muhammad Kamran Arbi has once again demanded the government to immediately withdraw SRO-350, according to a press release on Saturday.

In his statement, Arbi said that the major public utility company, SSGC, has not yet been able to file its sales tax return for the tax period May-2024 on time due to SRO-350, and this has resulted in the non-filing of returns by a vast majority of industries, leading to not only exorbitant sales tax liabilities for them but also unnecessary anguish.

He said that the association has once again requested the FBR to extend the date for filing returns for the tax period May 2024 by one more week. The president of the SAI added that since issuance in March 2024, SRO 350(I)/2024 has proved to be a trouble for the business community, which has not only been unable to file its monthly sales tax returns on time due to requirements not met till the last date of submission but also had to pay unnecessary tax liability on their input due to no fault of their own. This SRO has once again exposed the half-baked nature of FBR policies and implementation thereof, he said.

Arbi added that this matter has been raised time and again by the business community, even during its meeting with the PM in April in Karachi, where they collectively requested the PM to issue orders to withdraw SRO-350.

As things stand, according to Arbi, uncertainty and ambiguity regarding the timely filing of sales tax returns, along with unreasonable sales tax liabilities, is very unsettling for businesses and industries at an already difficult time.

The president of the SAI has appealed to the PM and finance and commerce ministers to look into the situation and issue immediate orders to withdraw the SRO for the smooth working of businesses and industries that are already going through a difficult time.