Tax rationalization can broaden the tax net, says RCCI President.

Rawalpindi: The newly elected President of the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) Usman Shaukat has said that rationalization of taxes can help broaden the tax net.

It is very unfortunate that FBR could not get desired results of the Tajir Dost Scheme. Instead of bringing new taxpayers into the system, the scheme only involved existing taxpayers and added unnecessary additional burden.

Usman Shaukat, while sharing his views about the Tajir Dost Scheme and broadening the tax net in a private TV program, said that every year additional taxes are being passed on to the existing taxpayers.

He said that the Chamber has always voiced about increasing the tax net and urged the tax authorities to increase the tax net by adding new sectors and departments rather than squeezing existing taxpayers.

While commenting on the root cause of lower number of tax return filings, Usman Shaukat said that the trust deficit had widened in the last couple of years between the business community and FBR. Trust deficit is one of the major reasons behind the failure of the Tajir Dost Scheme, he added.

He urged that the loopholes in the Tajir Dost Scheme should be removed and stakeholders should be consulted, tax collection based on the size of the shop is not realistic.

He said that our tragedy is that the rate of indirect tax is high and the rate of direct tax is low, the tax system should be reformed and a rationalized tax policy should be brought considering the ground realities.