FBR slammed over ‘anti-business’ measures

MARDAN: Industrialists here on Friday criticised the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for its ‘anti-business’ measures and demanded the withdrawal of the notices to industries.

In a joint statement, Mardan Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Adnan Ali, industrialist Shakeelzada, former president Swat Chamber of Commerce Yousuf Ali Khan and Haji Ahmad Khan said the FBR issued 14 notices from February 2021 to February 2022 to industries for the payment of various taxes.

Demanding the cancellation of the notifications, they said that former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata) were exempted from tax collection in the Finance Bill 2019.

They added that the FBR should have taken the industrialists in former Fata and Pata into confidence before issuing the notifications.

They asked the FBR to avoid reducing the import of industrialists on the basis of capacity determination survey.

“The transportation charges on imported goods increased in former Fata and Pata due to the distance from the dry port,” Adnan said, adding, it would be difficult for the industrialists from former Fata and Pata to compete with their counterparts in surrounding areas.

Adnan said that former Fata and Pata were exempted from all taxes till 2023 but the FBR was trying to create problems for them.

He said the chairman FBR misused his authority by issuing 14 notifications in a year.