Tax assaults


Sir: The very honest, God-fearing industrialists of Faisalabad have decided to boycott the regional tax office in that city because tax collectors have imposed a ban on their entry. One of the reasons for this is that the tax men have not agreed to settle sales tax disputes ‘amicably’ with tax defaulters, who apparently think that they are paying much more tax than others in the country. Settling disputes amicably means, of course, acceptance by the government of whatever they pay as tax, which is a pittance.

Faisalabad, it should be mentioned, is one region where the tax collected is not enough to pay the salaries of the tax-collecting staff in that city. Being a major industrial centre, one cannot understand why tax collection from Faisalabad is so low. For every rupee paid to the tax collection staff, the tax collected should be at least Rs 100. The Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) should sack all its employees in the Faisalabad office, appoint contractors to recover lost revenue and stop further tax evasion in that city.

Shakir Lakhani
Karachi
Printed in Daily Times, June 18, 2015 

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