ICCI for focusing on direct tax in Pakistan

Yassar Sakhi Butt, President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) said this in a statement issued here Saturday. He said the government must increase its dependence on direct taxes and move away from indirect taxes because any further increase in indirect taxes would not only be inequitable but it may also have negative consequences for the overall economy.He said that indirect taxes currently account for more than 60 percent of the total revenues while direct taxes to GDP ratio was merely 2 percent which has been badly affecting consumer spending that is a key driver of economic growth. Therefore, Government should not levy more indirect taxes in upcoming budget of 2012-13 on consumers and other sectors of the economy and ensure an equitable and transparent taxation system, he maintained.

President ICCI underlined the need for revamping the taxation system of the country on the modern and progressive lines, which is essential for controlling inflation on a sustained basis. He said that government should also abolish a number of indirect taxes which were being charged from the value-added industries for enabling them to compete in the international market as levying of various indirect taxes on these industrial units were causing serious threat by increasing cost of production of export-oriented industries.

Posted on May 22 2012. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry