The US-based companies operating in Pakistan have commended Pakistan’s efforts towards improving investor confidence in the economy through fiscal measures.
In a statement on Tuesday, the American Business Council (ABC) of Pakistan said that measures such as facilitating the taxpayers, improving ease of doing business, and incentivizing digitization of the economy have helped improve the investors’ confidence.
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The statement said that the government of Pakistan had positively reflected on the council’s policy recommendations regarding the taxpayer’s base.
ABC informed that they had submitted a comprehensive publication of collated and categorized proposals for consideration to the government.
The recommendations focused on broadening the tax base, removing tax distortions, and ease of doing business. ABC made the recommendations after consulting with government officials, including the Adviser to the PM on Commerce and Investment, the Minister of Finance, the Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and the Chairman Board of Investment (BoI).
Some of the accepted recommendations by ABC included a reduction in the turnover tax from 1.5 percent to 1.25 percent, charging sales tax in advance, decreasing withholding tax on distributors from 2 percent to 0.25 percent, and removing the federal excise duty (FED) on beverages. The FED on digital payment transactions was also removed as a result of ABC recommendations, the statement added.
The government also took ABC on board when the Council’s President, Asif Peer, was appointed as a member of the anomaly committee of FBR, formed to identify and remove the technical and legal anomalies in the Finance Bill 2021.
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“ABC extends its gratitude to the government and functionaries for their endless time and support,” Peer said in a statement.
“We are grateful to the government of Pakistan for incorporating our inputs in facilitating taxpayers and incentivizing digitization of the economy,” he said.
