The Sindh government has devised a strategy to facilitate the industrialists of Karachi in addressing the issues related to the payment of different taxes. The policy was formulated after the industrialists in the mega city complained about impediments in the payment of different taxes. “We will set up a help desk at the office of the SITE Association of Industry (SAI) led by well-reputed officials to facilitate entrepreneurs in matters of property, professional and motor vehicle taxes,” Atif Rehman, secretary of provincial excise, taxation and narcotics department, said. He said that his department would train the local government department officials to collect the property tax. He said the excise and taxation department was only a collecting agency, which transferred all revenue to the Sindh government’s account. Rehman said minimising human interaction in collection of property tax would yield better results. He added that an online property tax calculator had been made available to the taxpayers.

“The provincial government collects huge amounts of taxes from the industry in the largest industrial estate of the city, called Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE). Collection of infrastructure cess was approximately Rs30 billion in the first quarter (July-Sept 2023), the secretary of the taxation department said, adding that the provincial government had decided to facilitate the industrialists in payment of different taxes. Rehman said that the online availability of property tax challans was a progressive step towards the facilitation of industries in speedy disposal of cases. He said that awareness sessions would be held with the industrialists about the excise and taxation department-related matters. He promised to address the industrialists’ complaints about double taxation in relation to professional and trade licence taxes. It is to be noted here that Karachi is home to the largest manufacturing sector of the province, as 90% industries are located in this city, which contributes immensely to the national GDP growth. The major industries of Karachi are textiles, pharmaceuticals, steel and automobiles. Apart from these, Karachi is also called a software outsourcing hub of Pakistan.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)