Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari Friday said that the government should facilitate the real estate sector to strengthen the Pakistani Rupee against the US Dollar.
Addressing an event in Islamabad, the ICCI president said that in recent months the real estate business has suffered and many businesses have closed down. He said that if the real estate sector is facilitated the public will invest in real estate instead of buying gold and dollars.
Bakhtawari said that he has raised the issue of tax imposed under section 7E at every forum and highlighted that withholding and advance taxes have been doubled. He said that instead of encouraging people to become filers, this move will push more people away from the tax net.
Former ICCI President Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan also spoke on the occasion and said that despite paying heavy taxes businessmen are not facilitated. He said that businessmen have to put in effort even for basic facilities such as water. Khan went to the extent of calling heavy taxes a sign of “illiteracy” on the part of decision-makers and said that these decisions are forcing people to leave the country.
He said that the government should focus on broadening the tax net instead of taxing the already taxed. He pointed out that the tax-to-GDP ratio in Pakistan is only 9 percent.
Islamabad Estate Agents Association President Tahir Khan while addressing the event said that government should consult relevant stakeholders before imposing unfair taxes. He said that the association rejects the taxation measures announced in the recent budget and it is unlikely that anyone will want to pay Rs. 2.5 million tax on a plot of Rs. 7.5 million.
He recommended that the government should reduce taxation which will result in a much higher number of transactions which will increase revenue collection.
Source: Pro Pakistani
