FPCCI criticizes FBR’s tax targets as unrealistic, calls for pro-business policies

KARACHI: President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) Atif Ikram Sheikh has said that the business community opposes any high-handed approaches to enhance tax collection.

In a statement on Wednesday, the president said that the FPCCI has repeatedly emphasized that the only effective way to increase tax collection is through a meaningful consultative process involving stakeholders, including members from the business and trade communities and the industrial sector.

Sheikh reiterated the FPCCI’s position that the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) revised tax collection target of Rs12.91 trillion for FY2024-25 is not only unrealistic but also regressive and anti-business. He pointed out that in the current state of the economy, with no opportunities for businesses to expand, the shortfall in the FBR’s tax collection will continue to spiral out of control. The shortfall for July-August 2025 is Rs99 billion, and the deficit for September 2024 is expected to be between Rs100 billion and Rs150 billion, he added.

The FPCCI president elaborated that the Ministry of Finance and the FBR should study the root causes of the missed tax collection targets. The government needs to take concrete measures for export facilitation, renegotiate power purchase agreements (PPAs) with independent power producers (IPPs), bring the key policy rate down to single digits to match the prevailing core inflation, rationalize power and gas tariffs, and improve law and order in the country.He highlighted that core inflation is expected to be around 8.0 per cent in September 2024, while the policy rate is 17.5 per cent.