ICST lauds govt for not allowing non-filers to buy properties, cars

Islamabad: Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders (ICST) on Saturday lauded the government for reversing the decision to allow non-filers to buy properties and cars.

The move indicates that the economic team of the government has the courage to reverse wrong decisions and continue to implement to positive decisions of the former government, it said.

The re-imposition of a ban on non-filers also dispelled the impression that the government is under pressure by the realty tycoons and influential automobile industry, said ICST Patron Shahid Rasheed Butt.

Apprehensions that the decision will hurt the automotive industry and real-estate sectors are unfounded as the situation in the country is otherwise, he added.

He said that Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association has warned that the government will suffer Rs50 billion in revenue loss in case of sales drop due to a ban on the purchase of vehicles by non-filers of tax returns which should be ignored.

The foreign investors who are pumping hundreds of millions of dollars in the local automobile sector have not opposed this move which indicates the real situation.

Shahid Rasheed Butt said that the move will discourage non-filers, encourage filers, reduce the volume of the undocumented economy and promote taxation.

He said that the government should take more steps to make life difficult for wealthy non-filers to promote the culture of tax compliance.

The business leader lauded the action against hundreds of wealthy non-filers and demanded that it should continue with full force.