The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has expressed grave concern over new wave of raids on business premises by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) staff despite clear instructions of the Lahore High Court. LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid in a statement on Friday said that the FBR staff has again started misusing Section 38-B and 40-B of Sales Tax Act, 1990 against the business community. The Lahore High Court has barred the FBR from conducting raids on business centers but its staff has ruined the court's order, he said.
He said the businesses are already in a complicated state-of-affairs while anti-business actions against the businessmen are not only adding to their miseries but are also promoting trust deficit between the government and the business community. The LCCI chief said that misuse of section 38 & 40-B is grinding the business community. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi should take notice of the situation immediately otherwise the FBR staff would cause huge damage, not only to the business activities but also to the government's reputation as well, he added.
He said the FBR should stop harassing filers as non-filers and ones outside the tax net are not accounted for at all which discourages businesses to come into the tax net. Registered businesses are required to comply with various departments involving a lot of financial and time resources whereas unregistered businesses are free from all such hassles, he maintained. He said attaching bank accounts for recovery of outstanding dues is also hampering business growth and tarnishing the business-friendly image of the government. The bank accounts should not be attached without prior notice to the taxpayer and after seeking approval in writing of Commissioner in the light of reply submitted by the taxpayer, he added.
The recovery should not be made before the Tribunal's decision. He said instead of focusing on controlling under-invoicing, curbing smuggling and expanding the tax net, the FBR seems to be inclined to pressurize registered taxpayers who are already suffering due to high rate of sales tax, income tax and custom duties by creating fictitious cases for recovery of outstanding dues to meet revenue target.
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