LAHORE - The Lahore Businessmen Front has said that any attempt to implement the Section 165 and Section 165-A of the Income Tax Ordinance will be totally rejected by the business and industrial community as both these sections allow the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to gain access to bank account holders’ information, which, if given, would only pave way for harassment and bribery whereas no major breakthrough will be achieved in terms of broadening the tax base.

Addressing a meeting of the LBF, its leader Sardar Usman Ghani said the business community appreciates the commercial banks’ reluctance to give online access to information about accountholders as the sensitive information will be misused.

He was of the opinion that access to account holders’ details will open gates of corruption where corrupt tax officials will start minting money by carrying out under the table deals.

He advised the State Bank of Pakistan and Pakistan Banking Association not to succumb to the pressure being created by the federal government as access to such a sensitive information would further discourage the business and industrial community to maintain their funds in local commercial banks and the situation may result in flight of substantial amount of capital from the country, plunging the country into deep economic crisis. By giving access to account holders’ information, the efforts to document the businesses will be backtracked as it would encourage cash economy which already picked up a lot of pace after the imposition of withholding tax on banking transactions.

FPCCI Standing Committee chairman said that the government move of reducing WHT ratio on banking transaction for non-filers has created problems for the filers. He said that the imposition of the WHT on banking transactions apparently defeated the real purpose of discouraging the cash economy.