LAHORE– The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) has urged the Federal Board of Revenue to extend the last date of Tax Amnesty Scheme till August 31st of this year.
In a letter, the LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that our economy is going through a challenging phase due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. The businesses across all segments are in a distress and facing huge financial losses due to the disruptions in business activities.
He said that although the FBR has clarified that the due date for payment of outstanding taxes under the Asset Declaration Scheme 2019 will not be extended beyond June 30th 2020 but keeping in view the severe liquidity crunch that has engulfed our economy, we humbly request you to extend this date till August 31st 2020.
He said that that extension to the last date of Tax Amnesty Scheme would be a good step to relieve pressure on the economy as it would generate additional revenue for the government while businessmen can declare their assets or income and they cannot be asked about their source.
“An extension in Tax Amnesty Scheme 2019, coupled with awareness campaign, can help highest number of businessmen to avail full benefit of this good initiative”, the LCCI President said and added that this scheme is beneficial both for the government and the business community as it would help promote documented economy besides giving business doing people an opportunity to legalize their undeclared assets.
The LCCI President said that extension in Tax Amnesty Scheme till August 31st would enhance the chances of its success as businessmen would get more time to understand.
“We have always demanded for broadening the tax net and lowering the tax rate. We expect that this Tax Amnesty Scheme will go a long way in achieving the desired results. TAS will help broadening the tax net and would reduce the burden from the existing taxpayers”, he said.
This scheme also guarantees that the benefiters up to a certain limit would not be questioned about declaring the source of income. He said that that all possible measures should be taken to make the amnesty scheme a success.— PRESS RELEASE
