FBR chief’s maiden decision hailed

LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Tuesday expressed satisfaction on the maiden decision of Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Shabbar Zaidi and hoped that this would help in trust building, a statement said.

LCCI President Almas Hyder said that the FBR chairman issued his first major directive to the field formation that there would be no bank account attachment unless prior infor5mation to the taxpayer and the approval of the FBR chairman is obtained.

The decision would go a long way, as attachment of bank accounts was promoting parallel economy, he said.

He expressed the hope that the FBR chairman would also reduce the number of taxes. While giving a break-up, he said one company, operating in all the four provinces, makes five payments of corporate income tax in a year, 12 payments of employer paid-pension contributions, 12 payments of social security contribution, one payment of education cess, one payment of property tax, one payment of professional tax, one payment of vehicle tax, one payment of stamp duty, one payment of fuel tax and 12 payments of goods and sales tax.

The LCCI president demanded monthly frequency of tax payments related to Employees-Old Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) and Punjab Employees Social Security Institution (PESSI) and provincial sales tax must be reduced to one a year.

Professional and property tax should be clubbed together. Likewise, federal and provincial sales tax should also be clubbed together, he added.