The Founders at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has castigated discretionary powers of tax officials to check under-invoicing of goods at the time of import or export.
It will open a flood gate of corruption as well as smuggling into the country, as in the past almost all the discretionary powers of tax officials were misused, alleged Pervez Hanif, Chairman of The Founders, in a statement here on Friday.
He said that traders, especially the importers, are already decrying the discretionary powers of tax officials, which is nothing but an instrument of arm twisting in the hands of tax officials. Perhaps, finance minister has introduced this mechanism to streamline the release of imported goods in good faith, but it would prove to be an instrument of corruption, he added.
He said that business community, which has approached The Founders chairman, was quite disturbed over this situation and has expressed strong apprehensions about it.
These discretionary powers, especially of the lower staff of Central Board of Revenue (CBR), should immediately be withdrawn and a proper mechanism of evaluation should be put in place before taking any decision on the issue, Pervez Hanif demanded.