LAHORE - Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry Tuesday out-rightly rejected Punjab Sales Tax on Services enforcement rules prepared by Punjab Revenue Authority and termed them against the fundamental rights of doing business.
The rules were rejected at an emergent meeting convened by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry to seek the feedback of the stakeholders on the Punjab Sales Tax on Services enforcement rules.
The LCCI President Engineer Sohail Lashari presided over the meeting while the Senior Vice President Mian Tariq Misbah also spoke on the occasion. LCCI former Senior Vice President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad, EC members Khawaja Khawar Rasheed, Maqsood Ahmed Butt, Tanvir Ahmed Sufi and former EC member Shahzad Azam Khan and the representatives of trade and industrial associations
The LCCI president said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry is a representative body of the business community and it would not allow arrests of honest businessman and sealing of business premises on any pretext.
He also announced to form a 4-member committee to look into the rules and prepare recommendations for the implementation of these rules.
Engineer Sohail Lashari sought the intervention of Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif and MNA Hamza Shahbaz Sharif over the issue that has caused anxiety among the business community.
The LCCI President said that the enforcement rules were against the spirit of the democracy that allows freedom of working independently. He said that the government must initiate Public Private Dialogue (PPD) to evolve all future economic policies.
He said that the days are gone when the governments were used to implement policies without the consultation of stakeholders. He said that all over the world the policies are made in consultation with the business community therefore, the same methodology should be implemented in the country to enable the businessmen to continue their business with a peace of mind. He said that the country was in dire need of good governance that would remain a dream unless and until the private sector is made part of policy making mechanism.
Engineer Sohail Lashari said that the private sector wanted to do business peacefully to contribute towards the economic development of the country but some elements in the bureaucracy were hell bent to spoil the business atmosphere.