LCCI for exempting all filers from 0.3 percent WHT

The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Friday urged the government to exempt all filers from 0.3 percent withholding tax imposed on all banking transactions, as it would encourage non-filers to come into the tax net and government would achieve its all targets aimed at expansion of tax net.
LCCI Vice President Syed Mahmood Ghaznavi in a statement said the imposition of 0.3 percent withholding tax on banking transactions is a sheer injustice and against the government's own policy of tax net expansion. "There should be no withholding tax for the filers as they are already performing their national obligation with honesty," he said.
This is a double taxation which is bound to hit the trade and industry hard. The government should understand that protests and strikes always hit the economic activities hard therefore this tax should be withdrawn immediately in the larger interest of the economy. He said that the Lahore Chamber was with all the trade and industrial associations against this imposition of tax on bank transactions.
If tax on all bank transactions is imposed forcefully, it would not only hamper the trade and economic activities but would also tarnish the image of the government. A number of trade and industrial associations have approached to the LCCI and informed that imposition of tax on all banking transactions has caused unrest and put the interests of business community on stake. He said the tax would force business community to conduct its monetary transactions in cash that would promote the undocumented economy. He further said that all business-related decisions should be taken in consultation with the stakeholders as being done in the developed countries. LCCI vice president urged the Federal Finance Minister Dar to take all trade and industry related decisions in consultation with the business community which is the backbone of the economy. The LCCI advocates the broadening of tax net but all measures should be take in consultation with the stakeholders, he added.