RCCI urges Finance Ministry to announce incentive package for traders

RAWALPINDI, December 27: President Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry,  Mian Humayun Parvez has urged government and particularly Ministry of Finance to announce the incentive package for traders as soon as possible. In a statement President RCCI said that business community was in discussions with tax authorities since July 2015. He referred to a recent meeting of traders and representatives of business community at Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) with Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar which  was also attended by Special Advisor to Prime Minister, Haroon Akhtar, Chairman FBR and other FBR officials, including Member of Parliament Mian Abdul Manan and Muhammad Malik Parvez. Traders were expecting that the package will be announced next day but this was not happened, he said.President RCCI said that traders who are part of this complex tax system bearing the bumpy road for more than 60 years. However, our business community which is serving as a back bone of national development is quite hopeful for an early announcement, he added. He said traders are playing a vital role in boosting business activities in the country and making their useful contribution towards the prosperity of the country. He said that naming this incentive package as an amnesty scheme is not appropriate. Its not about letting traders whiten their undeclared assets against a nominal tax payment rather this package is meant to facilitate traders and tax payers to file their returns in an easy and simple way with an objective of collecting taxes and increasing the tax net along with declaring their real income, he emphasized. Meanwhile former President RCCI Syed Asad Mashadi who is also member of the traders committee, has urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to call traders convention as soon as possible and announce this incentive package. He said that current complex system of tax collection is creating panic among traders and the business community. He expressed hope that with this package more people will be added to the tax net and this will facilitate both filers and non-filers.