LAHORE, Dec 22: The Punjab government is considering a proposal to freeze the professional tax being levied from the industries and the professionals at the existing levels to minimize the role of inspectors in determining the tax value every year.

This was stated by Punjab Finance Minister Tariq Hameed on Saturday. He was speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of the Lahore Township Industrial Association (LTIA) here.

“This will help save the industrialists and the professionals from the problems owing to the visit of one inspector or the other every day; they will now pay the amount what they had paid last year.”

The Punjab government annually collects Rs250 million as professional tax.

The minister regretted that about 45 per cent of the units at the Lahore Township Industrial Estate, the biggest such cluster in the Punjab, had been closed owing to tariff or bank loans related problems.

He said that the bankers’ committee for the revival of the sick units could be helpful in resolving the problems of these units. The minister is heading the committee.

The Corporate and Industrial Restructuring Corporation (CIRC) which had changed the management of 29 sick units in the country, was working for the revival of the industry.

The minister assured his all-out support for the resolution of the tariff related problems.

“This is a federal subject, but I am ready to help you by advocating your case at the fora concerned,” he said.

He urged the industrial units to get themselves certified as it not only improved the manufacturing practices but also helped in enhancing the exports.

Earlier, LTIA outgoing chairman Syed Nabeel Hashmi said in his welcome address that of the 477 units installed at the industrial estate, 269 were working.

He said that the industrial estate was contributing Rs2.25 billion to the national exchequer in the form of federal and provincial taxes.

He suggested the downward revision of DC rates of the land in the area as these were higher as compared to the market rates.

He said that the government could resolve all the infrastructural problems of the estate by allocating Rs150 million.

LTIA’s new Chairman Mian Noman Kabir, Nishtar Town Union Council Nazim Maj Rafiq Hasrat (retired) and Pakistan Industrial and Trade Associations Front (PIAF) Chairman Mian Anjum Nisar also spoke on the occasion.—APP