Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the business community was feeling very perturbed over the attachment of bank accounts of taxpayers by the tax department as it was shattering their confidence and called upon the FBR to refrain from this practice as it would discourage new investment and force the businessmen to consider moving their businesses to other safe destinations. He said it seemed that the bank accounts of taxpayers were attached to meet the unrealistic and unachievable revenue targets set by the government, but this approach would bring harmful consequences for the economy as it would discourage people to keep their cash in bank accounts. He expressed these views during a meeting with a group of businessmen. Fatma Azim Senior Vice President, Abdul Rehman Khan Vice President ICCI, Mian Akram Farid Chairman Founder Group, Tariq Sadiq, Sanaullah Khan, Naeem Siddiqui, Khalid Chaudhry and others were present in the meeting.
Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan appealed to the Prime Minister Imran Khan, Finance Minister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Chairman FBR Javed Ghani to take serious notice of such actions by the FBR and issue directions to tax officers to stop attaching the bank accounts of taxpayers in order to save them from harassment and further troubles. Mian Akram Farid, Chairman Founder Group said that during the Covid-19 situation, the business community extended all possible cooperation to the government despite the fact that many businesses were facing the danger of closure. He said in these tough times, the business community did not lay off any worker and thus supported many families from facing acute financial problems. He said that instead of providing any tax relief to the businessmen, the FBR was creating a lot of problems for the taxpayers and thus was causing embarrassment for the government as well. He said that under these circumstances it has become difficult to do business in Pakistan and urged that FBR should shun the practice of attachment of bank accounts of taxpayers to save them from more difficulties.
ICCI Tax Committee Convener Naeem Siddiqui and Chairman Flour Mills Association Sheikh Tariq Sadiq said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has issued orders to stop creating problems for the taxpayers, but it seemed that the tax department was totally ignoring them. They said that attaching bank accounts of taxpayers and withdrawing cash from their accounts during the appeal stage was totally unjustified and would tarnish the reputation of the government as well. They called upon the FBR to change its current approach and make tax recovery by taking taxpayers fully into confidence that would yield more positive results for the economy.