LCCI asks govt to focus on fixing Faster Plus

LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday suggested the government focus on fixing the technical problems in the sales tax e-refund system (Faster Plus), a statement said.

Presenting the budget proposals for 2021/22, the Lahore Chamber said that the condition of disclosing CNIC for the sale to an unregistered person should be abolished in the larger interest of small businesses in the country in these challenging economic times.

Discussing about the turnover tax, it suggested that the rate should be reduced from the current 1.5 percent for the retail sector.

Discretionary powers under Section 177, 214C, 138, 175 of (Income Tax) and 40B, 25 37, 38A, 40 and 48 of (Sales Tax) should be minimised.

It also proposed immediate attention towards the tax exemptions granted to the Federal/Provincial Administered Tribal Areas (FATA/PATA) on imports of certain raw materials, which are distorting the market, as the raw materials are imported and sold in other parts of the country at cheaper rates.

The government should introduce soft policies for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), including special financing schemes where they can get credit at low markup rates with no collateral requirement.

It was also suggested that the Temporary Economic Refinance Facility (TERF) and the Refinance Scheme for Payment of Salaries should be extended, while the interest rate should be reduced to 5 percent.

The electricity tariff for all the sectors should be reduced to 7.5 cents/kWh through the elimination of taxes. The gas tariff should also be reduced for the industry.

The LCCI proposed rationalisation of high taxes on local LPG visa viz imported LPG, facilitation of local production of lithium-ion batteries, ban on the export of copper to facilitate SMEs.