Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) wants to form a committee having representatives from Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry and other sectors to bridge the community gap
Lahore (Pakistan Point News / Online - 24th January, 2020) Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) wants to form a committee having representatives from Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry and other sectors to bridge the community gap.This was stated by the Chairman PRA Zain-ul-Abidin Sahi while speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Friday. LCCI Senior Vice President Ali Hussam Asghar, Vice President Mian Zahid Jawaid Ahmad, former President Mian Muzaffar Ali and former Vice President Kashif Anwar also spoke on the occasion while Commissioner Enforcement PRA Shahzad Mehmood Gondal, LCCI Executive Committee members Wasif Yousaf, Sheikh Sajjad Afzal, Fiaz Haider were present in the meeting.
Chairman PRA said that the proposed committee would have regular meetings so that policy decision can be made after due consultation with the stakeholders. An application has already been launched to have direct liaison with the taxpayers.He said that there is a lot of development on tax harmonization between the provinces. Monthly meetings are being held between the representatives of the provinces and they have agreed on some matters. He said that a system is being designed under which taxpayer would file a single return whether he is working in one or more than one provinces.
Automatic system would decide the tax segregation. He said that the provinces were expressing apprehension that it may affect the Ease of Doing business Index therefore this system would be implemented sector wise. He said that Telecom sector has been chosen at the first phase. He was optimistic that system would be in working during the ongoing Calendar year.To a question, Chairman PRA said that provincial tax are already being collected through online banking channels while facilities of credit and debit cards would also be available soon.
He said that uniformity in sales tax in all provinces is very difficult. He said that Punjab Infrastructure Development Cess (PIDC) cannot be abolished but a middle way can be found in consultation with the stakeholders. "We want to bring down the rate of litigation', the Chairman said.Zain ul Abideen Sahi said that the authority is performing well by registering over 23 percent revenue growth in the first six months of ongoing fiscal year despite economic slowdown.LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that services sector is the most important sector of the economy with a share of around 61% in the GDP. We are of the view that those service providing industries which have a reasonable contribution in the GDP should be given the benefit of concessionary tax rate.
