LCCI urges govt to bring all sectors into tax net

LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the government to bring all untaxed sectors into the tax net instead of twisting the arm of the tax payers who are already under immense pressure due to various internal and external challenges.
The demand was raised by the LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad while talking to a delegation of traders. He said that the agriculture sector, with a share of 21 per cent in GDP, contributes hardly around 6 per cent towards tax revenue. He said that the business community would not tolerate any tax-related policy that would be implemented without due consultation of the stakeholders.
“Laws must be made for the trade and industry and not at their expense.” The LCCI president said that all over the world there was a phenomenon that income was to be taxed whether it is derived from industry, imports, exports, agriculture, trading or services, but here it is sector-specific only.
The LCCI president informed the delegation that the LCCI has taken up the issue of withholding tax on banking transactions with the government and would continue the struggle till an amicable solution was found.
He said that the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio has been on a decline since the past few years and it registered an extremely low figure. The gap between revenue and expenditure in the last four years has gravely thwarted the financial goals of the government, including giving an impetus to economic growth, reducing poverty, improving vital public services such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure.