RAWALPINDI, Sept 5: The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) will now accept tax return forms without the oath undertaking and other relevant details, the board’s member (tax), Wakil Ahmed Khan, said.

Speaking at a meeting at Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Khan said this decision had been made by the CBR on the demand of the business community, which had been seeking exemption from filling the declaration form and providing other details at the time of filing returns.

The CBR member said the decision was consistent with the main objective of the CBR, which called for facilitating the taxpayers and enhancing the tax net.

Assuring the RCCI members of better facilities for taxpayers, he said the board needed the cooperation of the traders, exporters and other taxpayers for smooth functioning of its operations.

The RCCI president, Osman Khalid Waheed, appreciated the CBR decision saying this would restore the confidence of the business community in the tax system of the country.

“Traders had grievances with the tax system and Self Assessment scheme and they were not ready to fill the oath form and details,” he said.

He demanded of the CBR authorities to further facilitate the taxpayers.

Meanwhile, speaking at the closing ceremony of a two-day training workshop on human resource development organized by Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda), the RCCI president said the country’s industrial sector had not made any progress during the past two decades and was still where it was in the early eighties.

He said the main reason for this was that entrepreneurs had failed to adequately address the issue of human resource development.

Speaking on the occasion, Ali Akbar Bosan of Smeda said small and medium enterprises were the backbone of the economy and were playing an important role in its development.

Besides, bringing about socio-economic improvement, SMEs help in creating jobs for unemployed and improving the living standard of the masses.