Muhammad Shakeel Munir, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the FBR is issuing notices to the traders for registration in sales tax and POS system, which has created great concerns in the business community. He urged that FBR should refrain from forcibly registering traders in the sales tax, withdraw all such notices issued to them and intensify efforts to bring those in the tax system, who are currently out of the tax net. He expressed these views while addressing a reception hosted by former ICCI Senior Vice President Muhammad Naveed Malik. Senior Vice President ICCI Jamshed Akhtar Sheikh, Vice President Muhammad Faheem Khan, Baser Daud, Azharul Islam, Malik Najeeb, Nasira Ali Naina, Shazia Rizwan, Saeed Khokhar, Major (Retd) Raiz, Saima Huma and others were present on the occasion.

Mohammad Shakeel Munir said that the sales tax registration campaign of traders in the local markets of Islamabad is going on at present due to which small traders in particular are worried and trade unions have indicated to launch strong protest against forced registration. This will not only affect business activities but also the overall economy. He, therefore, urged the FBR to immediately withdraw the sales tax registration notices issued to the traders and resolve the issue amicably in consultation with the trade associations.

Jamshed Akhtar Sheikh, Senior Vice President and Muhammad Faheem Khan, Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that FBR was also issuing letters to traders to install point of sales system in shops which has created lot of concerns in them. They said that there was no justification for forcing small traders to install POS in shops. They demanded that FBR should focus on identifying new taxpayers to improve tax revenue and avoid issuing notices to traders who are already paying taxes.