Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain has said that imposition of additional tax on food items is inappropriate as it will increase pressure on the masses who are already reeling under the burden of inflation. Talking to business community on Tuesday, he was of the view that such moves will exuberate food security issues, shrink the documented economy and promote the undocumented economy. Demanding to withdraw imposition of impose tax on food items, Mian Zahid Hussain said that the decision will further affect food security and push millions below the poverty line. There is a need to bring tax-paying sectors into the tax net for enhanced recoveries, he said adding that individuals should be netted through digital transactions instead of FIRs.

The business leader said that the majority of the population in Pakistan was already deprived of necessary nutrients. Due to the 18% general sales tax from July 1, consumers must pay an extra Rs 50 per litre of packaged milk, draining hundreds of rupees from their monthly pockets. He further stated that this would also reduce the documented dairy industry's volume, affecting livestock business, public employment, and government revenue. Mian Zahid Hussain said that Pakistan was one of the important countries in milk production, but despite this, 40% of children were short, 29% were underweight, and 18% were weak due to want of proper nutrients their parents could not afford. He also demanded that the government remove 10% GST from newsprint. He said the media industry is already facing a difficult situation, so the tax proposal should be withdrawn.

The business leader said that according to FBR, the number of tax filers has increased by 1.5 million this year, which was commendable. The FBR has traced an alleged tax fraud of Rs 756 billion in the form of flying invoices and claimed to have arrested 70 to 80 people. According to tax officials, the steel sector was a major source of fake invoices, costing the national exchequer Rs 60 to 70 billion annually. Mian Zahid Hussain further said that 6,000 vacancies in the FBR need to be filled to boost collection. However, he said that before the appointments, a guarantee should be taken from the higher authorities that they will take practical steps on a professional and digital basis to document the sectors outside the tax net, and the policy of squeezing the taxpayers will be abandoned.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan