LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) demanded on Monday that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) should withdraw the withholding tax on banking transactions as well as the discretionary powers of tax officials.

Speaking at a traders’ convention, LCCI President Malik Tahir Javed said unjustified levies are discouraging new taxpayers and limiting the expansion of the tax net.

“The chairmen of the FBR and Senate Standing Committee on Finance should take immediate notice of this longstanding issue that is causing a trust deficit between the government and business community,” said Mr Javed.

“A new strategy will be evolved if these issues are not resolved by the end of this month,” he added. Convention participants said FBR staff members routinely harass the business community. They said indirect taxes are being removed gradually throughout the world. However, these are contributing around 60 per cent to the revenue in Pakistan, they said.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2017