Mian Rashid Asghar
FAISALABAD: Every responsible and patriotic Pakistani will have to pay his share of taxes for the economic stability of the country. This was stated by the President of Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Atif Munir Sheikh in a message on the occasion of Tax Day today. He said that Pakistan is a country of all of us and we have to pay our share of taxes for its development and prosperity. He said that the main objective of taxes was to complete development projects to alleviate poverty and provide necessary facilities to the people. He said that at present the rate of tax payment in terms of GDP is only 8.6% due to which the entire tax burden is placed on the existing taxpayers. He said that even newcomers avoid this situation by becoming part of the tax net. Therefore, the government has to formulate a workable strategy to distribute the tax burden evenly among all sectors. He also urged the people that those Pakistanis who think their income is taxable will have to pay their share of taxes on their own without waiting for pressure from the government. In this way not only Pakistan will be freed from foreign debts but also the era for development and prosperity in the country will begin. He emphasized that 8000 members of Faisalabad Chamber are taxpayers and in this regard such a procedure has been adopted that no tax evader can become a member of Faisalabad Chamber. He further said that according to the records of Faisalabad Electricity Supply Company, it was mandatory for every commercial connection holder to file tax return but in practice this was not happening. He said that no industrial or commercial connection should be issued to any applicant without tax return. He said that if the government made serious efforts, at least one lakh new taxpayers could be added in Pakistan every year.
