LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has sought Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s help for deferment of amendments that are bound to bring businesses to a halt.

In a letter to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, LCCI President Kashif Anwar drew his attention towards recently introduced SROs 457(I)/2024, SRO 350(I)/2024 and SRO 1842(I)/2023 and said that they are disproportionately affecting the businesses compliant with tax regulations and have brought the whole system to a halt. The SRO 350 links the buyers’ ability to file tax returns to the compliance of their suppliers. Due to this measure, a dangerous chain reaction has been set in motion. The potential chain reaction of non-compliance among suppliers will undoubtedly bring the system to a grinding halt, severely affecting businesses at every stage of the supply chain.

The LCCI President said that the business community in Pakistan is confronted with steep and multi-dimensional economic challenges including inflation, devaluation, rising energy price, high interest rate and MDI charges, etc. He said that these pertinent issues are hampering the private sector growth and creating problems for the tax compliant persons.

He said that the buyers should not be penalised if the sellers have not filed their Sales Tax returns. To deal with the issue of fake and flying invoices, checks should be incorporated in the FBR’s internal system and actions should be taken against the specific parties involved in the practice of fake invoices rather than causing inconvenience to all the compliant taxpayers. It will create undue hardships for the compliant taxpayers and force them to move out of the tax net.

“The LCCI fully supports the efforts of the Government to promote documentation and broaden the tax base. However, the aforementioned measures are squeezing the existing compliant taxpayers in the tax net by limiting their sales. This is not good for the already stressed economy and Taxation System in Pakistan, as these measures are discouraging the documented sector”, LCCI President added.

Kashif Anwar said that urgent intervention of Prime Minister is necessary to rectify this situation and prevent widespread disruption to business operations and the economy at large. He hoped that Prime Minister would take immediate action and defer the implementation on these aforementioned SROs till conclusive discussions with the stakeholders.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024