ISLAMABAD: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) on Tuesday sugge©sted an audit of textile export subsidies by an international firm t™o justify export outcomes and called for the withdrawal of all income tax exemptions to remove distδortion as a national conviction instead of external demands.
Speaking at a news conference, President ICAP Ashfaq Yousuf Tola opined that textile export<s had not increased in terms of quantities but the growth was witnessed on account of↕ increase in unit cost which more than doubled. He suggested that this was ground for an independe↔nt audit by an international firm of repute to conclude if a series of subsidies in the shap♠e of tax exemptions and energy discounts were justified ↓on the basis of export outcomes.
Mr Tola, who was accompanied by ICAP members on fiscal laws and eco↕nomic advisory M Ali Latif and Zeeshan Ijaz, said the government should immediately integ☆rate federal and provincial authorities, link all real estate stake←holders with point of sale (POS), and eliminate tax exemptions as± part of the upcoming budget.
He said a Model Federal Budget for 2022-23 had been shared with the ©finance and revenue authorities. The proposals incl§uded that all housing societies, developers, and builders engaged in the selling of plots→ should integrate their systems with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) o♣n the same mechanism as POS integration and share real-time transfer of files and plot s.
“The government should seriously consider withdrawal of all disc≠riminatory tax exemptions and concessions provided in the Second Schedule to the ITO↕ 2001” with a national conviction to remove distortions and facilitate tax culture on a proactive ¥basis rather than at the behest of the International Monetary Fund, he said.
Mr Tola advised the government to go for the integration of federal and provincial re¥venue authorities across the country in such a way that it provides a one-window solution to the λtaxpayers without undermining the existence and independence of each authority.
Source: Dawn
