ISLAMABAD: Rawalpindi Islamabad Tax Bar Association (RITBA) on Wednesday warned that forthcoming mini-budget to result in contraction of the troubled economy adding to the plight of masses.
The new taxation measures to improve the revenue collection will also hit the business community worried over instability, it said.
Mini-budget will result in the closure of many businesses and leave countless unemployed while it will widen the gulf between taxpayers and tax collectors, said Syed Tauqeer Bukhari, President of RITBA.
So far the government has not taken any serious step to widen the tax net, therefore, the axe will fall on the existing taxpayers which will encourage evasion, discourage compliance and increase the volume of the undocumented economy, he added.
Syed Tauqeer Bukhari said that the government should reverse the policy of squeezing existing taxpayers and try to find new taxpayers with the help of stakeholders.
The government has established bodies to widen tax net but their performance has left much to be desired, he said, adding that government should consult tax bars of all the districts to boost collection.
He noted that increased tax target will result in increased harassment which will paralyze economic activities, therefore, it will be opposed by the tax bar and masses.
Tax collection should be improved through the disposal of tax litigation in which trillions of rupees of revenue is stuck while the mechanism of alternative dispute resolution committees should be improved, he suggested.
Bukhari noted that erosion of exchange rate, hike in power tariff and other steps have burdened masses by trillions of rupees and they are not ready to cope with more burden.