Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has proposed that the FBR should take traders and all market associations fully on board before setting up Point of Sale (POS) devices in the business premises that would help in broadening the tax base and improving the tax revenue of the country. He said that instead of POS system, the government should focus on self-assessment scheme that would give them more confidence and they will be more willing to pay tax at their own discretion. He said that in the prevailing circumstances, self-assessment scheme would be very helpful and successful in improving the tax collection of the country.
Sardar Yasir Ilyas Kahn said that the traders have been fully cooperating with the government in the corona vaccination drive and they should be engaged in talks for POS installation instead of sending FBR’s monitoring teams to monitor their sale at business premises because it would not send a positive signal to the trading community. He said that previously the FBR was providing the POS devices for installation at business premises and the same arrangement should be continued instead of asking traders to arrange the devices at their own cost.
Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan further said that the traders were playing an important role in boosting the business and economic activities in the country and they should be treated with respect and regard. He said that the government should make all possible efforts to avoid taking any measures that may create a sense of harassment in the business community. He said that FBR should withdraw all monitoring teams from business premises and increase the use of technology to minimize the interface between the taxpayers and the tax collectors that would give more confidence to the business community.
ICCI President emphasized that the government should take measures to facilitate the business community in promoting the business activities that would ultimately lead to fast recovery of the economy. He appealed that all monitoring teams should be withdrawn from business premises and the matter of installation of POS devices should be taken forward by taking all the stakeholders on board so that with joint efforts, the tax revenue of the country could be improved.