THE government needs to introduce new regulations to increase industrialisation and improve tax collection from new businesses. These rules should encourage rather than hold back the concerned sectors.

Silicon Valley in California is famous for launching internet companies. This is so because the changes in regulations in the 1990s attracted investors and developers. The regulations made it cheaper and easier to register a legal company than elsewhere.

Pakistan should learn from California which has a central registration system with standard documentation. The central registration gives automatic tax registration and provides a certificate of registration with reference number searchable on a website.

In our country introducing the above and using the website to highlight owners, audited reports and other details can do wonders.

Certificates of registration can be used to open company bank accounts and register with different trade bodies or other organisations. There should be an option to register with a company address or without it.

As many enterpreneurs and IT companies no longer need an office and want to avoid the expense associated with it, post offices should provide postbox addresses to be used for correspondence.

The companies should be provided yearly tax and finance consultants at standard low fixed rates through third parties that are screened and registered by the central registration office, while also providing offices, facilities and standard training to them. All of these services should be provided online or through phone calls.

New rules for investors in such companies should also be framed where the rights and risks for the investor are easily highlighted. Standard contracts for silent partners should also be introduced.

Introducing such facilities would allow all new companies to be registered centrally, without visiting any government office, besides ensuring every company pays taxes regularly.

The Central Registration Office will also generate employment for hundreds of people. Therefore the government should consider setting up this office in an impoverished province while under federal control to create employment and economic activities in that province.

Shahryar Khan Baseer
Peshawar

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2020