KARACHI: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will assist the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in formulating taxation rules, NAB Director General (Sindh Region) Colonel (r) Siraj Naeem said during while visiting the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Thursday. Both the organisations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard, he said.
KCCI Senior Vice President Muhammad Ibrahim, former chairman Khalil Firpo and other office bearers of the chamber welcomed the Sindh NAB chief at the chamber.
Talking to the KCCI officer bearers and businessmen, Naeem said that the main aim of his organisation is to improve tax system and help the traders. He said that the government should ensure proper arrangements in order to facilitate the business community.
Speaking to the business community, the DG made it clear that NAB generally receives tax evasion cases related to the Sales Tax Act, 1990 and the officials are trying to recover the government exchequer.
“We are trying to facilitate the traders and business community and dispose-off the cases promptly”, he added.
On the occasion, Col (retd) Siraj Naeem assured the business community that genuine issues of the traders’ community will be redressed on urgent basis.
He said that the issuance of SROs at regular intervals without proper study was badly affecting the trade activities and creating impediments in business affairs.
“NAB is playing its positive role to facilitate the trade”, DG added.
Responding to a query, Col (retd) Siraj Naeem said that the NAB is ready to extend its full cooperation in order to sort out the issues of business community.
Speaking at the occasion, Senior Vice President KCCI Muhammad Ibrahim said that the bureaucrats in FBR are misusing Customs Act, 1969; Sales Tax Act, 1990 and Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 resulting in revenue leakages.
KCCI SVP further said that the FBR was not making arrangements in order to expand the tax net by identifying the new tax payers and putting all tax burdens on the existing tax payers.
“We need to identify the grey areas in trade in order to save the leaking of national exchequer”, he stated further.