FAISALABAD: Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) acting president Mian Tanveer Ahmed Friday said double taxation was a major impediment to economic growth.Addressing a meeting after attending a special meeting with Punjab Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim, Tanveer said the government must club all federal and provincial taxes in addition to trimming its value to a single digit.Faisalabad Dry Port Trust (FDPT) specific problems were also discussed in the meeting. Tanveer said Karachi had its own geostrategic importance because of sea port. “Our imports and exports are routed through this city”, he said, adding that Sindh government has exploited its sea port by imposing 1.15 per cent excise duty on all imports. However, after the promulgation of 18th amendment, Punjab government had also clamped Punjab infrastructure cess at the rate of 0.9 percent from July 1st, 2015. “This decision has inflicted a severe blow to the up country dry ports which have now become unviable only due to the multiplicity of the taxes.He said in order to avoid double taxation most of the importers prefer to clear their import consignments at Karachi and hence, the taxes are paid at Karachi. He explained that on the basis of tax collection at Karachi port, the Sindh province claim that it was are contributing 70 percent towards the total revenue collection and thus it gets lions share on the basis of NFC (National Finance Commission) Award.On the other hand, the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are deprived of their due share. He demanded imports destined for Punjab or KPK but cleared at Karachi may be included in the revenue generated by the concerned province. He said the Punjab government should either resolve this issue at tax collection level or withdraw Punjab infrastructure cess to provide a breathing space to upcountry ports.The meeting was told that government gets Rs.4 billion from Punjab Infrastructure Cess however, necessary data would be collected from Karachi for the import consignments of Punjab but the cleared at Karachi. It will help provincial government of Punjab to evolve a viable strategy to settle this issue on permanent basis. The meeting decided that on the receipt of this data, necessary recommendation would be made in next meeting.The meeting was also attended by chairman FDPT Chaudhry Mushtaq Ali Cheema, Mian Muhammad Latif, Muzzamil Sultan and chairman Punjab Revenue Authority in addition to other officials of the departments concerned.Quota for expatriates: Allocation of 20 per cent quota for expatriates for the appointment of trade officers is a positive sign that would give a quantum jump to the exports but competent exporters could also be appointed as honorary trade consular and trade officers in untapped non-traditional international markets.Talking to reporters, Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) acting chairman Mian Tanveer Ahmed said the step would help Pakistan to enhance its exports and bridge the widening gap between imports and exports.He said the trade body had been constantly demanding appointment of businessmen as honorary trade consular and trade officers but their demand had been ignored which resulted in steep decline in Pakistani exports. Moreover, Pakistan failed to penetrate into non-traditional markets due to financial constraints, he maintained.He said generally blue eyed persons were appointed as trade officers who failed to contribute their due role in enhancing exports. He said on the other hand the businessmen had inherent experience to deal with businessmen of other countries. They also fully understand the complexities of the business of export and hence, they are most suitable to enhance exports. As their appointment will be honorary, hence they would not become burden on national kitty. He said the government has rightly allocated 20 per cent quota for expatriates as they already have roots in foreign markets but at the same time they remaining vacant seats should be filled by businessmen who have experience to work in international environment.Their appointment could also be subject to monthly evaluation of their performance. He said the businessmen who fail to enhance Pakistani exports could be replaced immediately with another suitable person.
from The News International - National https://ift.tt/2SSHUzt
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