PBC urges Sindh govt for tax relief

KARACHI: Pakistan Business Council (PBC) on Tuesday appealed to Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah to direct the revenue department to suspend collection of tax under the Sindh Development & Maintenance of Infrastructure Cess Act 2017, given the prevailing economic crisis.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted liquidity of businesses in Pakistan including those operating in Sindh,” the PBC wrote in a letter to the chief minister.

The business body said while its members were committed to retaining their direct employees and were also taking steps to ensure the livelihoods of employees in their supply chain were not adversely impacted, they were however, looking towards the governments for maximum help to ensure liquidity was available to finance these unusual expenses.

“We are therefore writing to request you to initially suspend all collections under the Sindh Development & Maintenance of Infrastructure Cess Act 2017 till June 30, 2020,” said the business association that is composed of country’s leading employers, including multinationals. The PBC added that the government could review the proposed exemption in June and extend it if the crisis persists.

In its letter, the business body also cited that government of Punjab on April 2, 2020, announced the suspension of collections under the Punjab Infrastructure Development Cess Act 2015 till June 30th, 2020.

“The PBC hopes for a similar gesture from the government of Sindh and requests that the announcement for the suspension of collections under the Sindh Development & Maintenance of Infrastructure Cess Act 2017 be made at the earliest,” it said.