FBR advised to prioritise refunds for SMEs

Karachi: Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday urged the government to prioritize releasing refunds of small businesses to support them during the difficult times.

Zubair Motiwala, chairman of the Businessmen Group said the pending income tax refund claims of small traders, shopkeepers and small and medium enterprises must be calculated out of the turn and the claims of around Rs50,000 to Rs100,000, whose assessment has been completed, should be released on top priority, “which will bring some relief to the lives of small businessmen during the ongoing extraordinary situation caused by COVID-19 pandemic”.

“Blocking such refunds oppresses small businesses which continue to face serious cashflow problems. We have no idea how long the COVID-19 pandemic will last and it is a well-known fact that almost every household is a victim of this pandemic therefore, the government will have to provide relief as it is totally uncertain where the businesses will land up in the days to come,” he said during a meeting with traders.

Motiwala said the government will have to bring in major changes in the taxation system and it also needs to devise effective mechanism to minimise the hardships of small traders.

“Big businesses may survive but the small ones need support as they have no access to financing facilities and have also lost all their savings while battling with the situation,” he said.

Motiwala said the government’s condition to register buyers is creating a lot of problems for the already perturbed businessmen who are compelled to run their businesses with limited timings and are advised to comply with coronavirus rules.

Motiwala said the problems confronted by small traders will always be given top priority by the leadership of Businessmen Group and sitting office bearers of the Karachi Chamber will keep on raising a strong voice and make allout efforts to get the issues resolved. Shariq Vohra, president of KCCI said small traders are the assets of KCCI and the chamber fully realises their significance.