‘Unnecessary tax filings to be abolished’

LAHORE: The Punjab government Monday assured the business community of abolishing almost 50 unnecessary tax filings, besides joining the collection of property, professional and labour-related taxes.

The assurance was given by Punjab Finance Minister Makhdoom Jawan Bakhat Hashim in a meeting with Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) the President Almas Haider here at the committee room of the Punjab finance department at Civil Secretariat. The meeting was also attended by Punjab Information Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal, Minister for Excise and Taxation Hafiz Mumtaz Ahmed, Minister for Board of Revenue Malik Muhammad Anwar, Finance Secretary Abdullah Sunbal, Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) Chairman Javeed Ahmed, Secretary Industries, and representatives of the Lahore Tax Bar. The objective of the meeting was to resolve the business community’s complaints about tax collection and harmonisation of taxes in the province.

The LCCI president mentioned that the business community was compelled to pay taxes 47 times in a year which increased burden on the companies.

The big companies manage their tax returns filling through their agents and lawyers while the small businesses have to shut down their businesses to fulfill the department requirements, he observed. He suggested unifying different taxes to reduce the tax returns filing besides increase the tax collection. The LCCI president suggested abolishing the infrastructure cess for development of dry ports in the province and separating tax collection from the service delivery. He also asked ending unnecessary monitoring of the business and increases the trust in the business community.

Makhdoom Jawan Bakhat acknowledge the suggestion of the business community and assured abolishing around 50 unnecessary tax fillings, unifying labour-related taxes, and merging professional and property taxes. He said the government was making legislation to end unwanted regulations for the promotion of trade and investment. Besides, the government has been revisiting the rules and regulations for ease of doing business, introducing business-friendly policies. Solving the business community’s problems is the top most priority of the government, he asserted.

The minister instructed the PRA chairman to evaluate the revenue impact of abolishing the infrastructure cess from the dry ports in Punjab while the LCCI should prepare and present a plan for the revival of the dry ports in the next meeting so that the government would be able to make a final decision on the issue. The minister also issued instructions to the industry department to prepare alternative plans for the revival of the dry ports. The meeting also discussed the issue of the revival of real estate.

Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal mentioned that property tax was an important component of revenue collection but the government had ignored it and real estate sector was on the verge of collapse. He stressed the need of effective planning for the revival of the real estate sector. Malik Muhammad Anwar briefed the meeting that the BOR had already unified taxes while considering different proposals for the revival.

Similarly, the excise and taxation minister briefed that all Excise and Taxation department taxes had been unified but property and professional taxes could not be easily unified. The finance minister instructed the finance department to ensure the timelines given to different departments for the harmonization of taxes.