LAHORE, OCTOBER 01 – The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the FBR to immediately stop issuing notices to businessmen as it is not only creating undue harassment among them but also giving a bad name to the government.
In a statement, the LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah-ur-Rehman said that in the post-COVID era, businesses should be facilitated but unfortunately, steps are being taken otherwise.
The LCCI chief said that the economy has just come out of the dark shadows cast by the Covid-19 pandemic and is still facing the aftershocks of the lockdown period.
He said the businesses have been reopened after more than eight months and are doing their best to make up the losses incurred during that period, adding that LCCI feels that issuance of notices to businesses at this juncture will put a stop to the process of economic recovery which is still far away from normal.
Mian Tariq Misbah said that LCCI strongly recommends that the FBR must stop issuing such notices which are causing a sense of harassment and panic in the business community.
The LCCI chief said that these notices would roll back all the efforts to restore the economy and normalization of business activity, adding the present notices, which are undue and unnecessary, will also impact the businesses negatively.
He said that the biggest issue the business community is facing is related to tax and we are making continuous efforts and deliberations with the concerned departments for the eradication of these issues.
He said we have already asked FBR to withdraw its decision of tax audit as in these circumstances the government should not only stop the issuance of notices but also postpone the tax audit for one more year, adding this would be very helpful for the business community and taxpayers who are hit hard during the last six months.
