PESHAWAR: KP business community blamed the present cumbersome procedures and documentation process as the main hurdle to broaden the “tax base” and urged the government to simplify the taxation system.

It is dire need to reform and simplify the taxation system with the consultation of real stakeholders, said Zahiullah Shinwari, former president Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) while responding to a question of an officer of 31st Senior Management Course, National Institute of Management, Islamabad during a meeting held at Chamber’s House that was chaired by the chamber Acting President Imran Khan Mohmand, here on Wednesday. Shinwari said the present complicated taxation system was the main obstacle in widening the existing tax base. He called for simplifying the taxation system and adopting traders-friendly policies.

To another query relating to Pak-Afghan bilateral trade, former SCCI president said declining trend in mutual trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan began since singing of the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA) in 2010, which had made without making proper consultation with business community of both sides, consequently, Pak-Afghan bilateral trade volume dropped exponentially, which is currently stood at approximately less than US 400 to 500 million dollars from previously US 2.5 billion dollars.

Similarly, he expressed serious apprehensions over sluggish progress on the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022