Govt heading towards one tax system, says state minister

Rawalpindi: The Government has been actively working on Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) and most of the demands of the business community made practical. More than 45 different taxes have been clubbed in and we are heading towards one tax regime. To facilitate local investors and businessmen in order to run their business operations smoothly, businessmen can now pay taxes online as different departments have been linked through e-portals.

This was stated by Chairman Board of Investment (BOI) and minister of state Haroon Shairf during his visit to the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) here on Monday. Chairman BOI stressed upon business community to prepare recommendations and suggestion to improve Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in different sectors including Tourism, Agri foods, services sector, real estate and poultry. He suggested having a close partnership with Chamber of Commerce through an advisory council aiming to monitor the progress of government initiatives and providing feedback on given projects.

He appreciated RCCI efforts in promoting trade activities in the region and said that Chambers are the key stakeholders in bridging the gap between traders and the Government entities. He assured his full cooperation and assistance in resolving issues of Rawat Industrial estate including Electricity Feeders, Grid Station and other civic facilities.

Earlier, RCCI President Malik Shahid Saleem urged BOI and Government to take concrete steps in addressing grievances of local industry. He informed that Rawat Industrial Estate has 1100 industrial units and roughly 300 are working and if the issue of Grid Station or load management resolved, 100 more units will start producing in next couple of weeks. He demanded that traders must be kept in loop while finalizing trade and investment policy. He also appreciated recent initiatives of Government including Pakistan Banao Certificate, however, he suggested to have this facility available to Overseas with bank accounts not just passport holders.

He also invited Chairman BOI to attend RCCI’s “Business Africa Forum “ to be held on February 26.