KARACHI: The board of directors of the Pakistan Stock Exchange forwarded their views on the proposed tax amendments and requested that the capital markets tax consultation committee recently set up by the finance minister review the implications of those proposals before “moving ahead”.

It asked for encouragement for the Initial Public Offering (IPO) market. The exchange stated in a press release that the tax incentive for new listings was a very small enticement with no significant revenue impact. It had a significant impact on increasing the documentation and tax base and hence on tax revenue.

The PSX stated that other measures negatively impacting REITs, modarabas, mutual funds and inter-corporate dividend had also been proposed. “All these sectors need to be encouraged for economic growth and documentation of the economy,” the PSX said.

For example, the concept of group taxation was introduced to promote corporatisation, allowing corporate entities to grow into conglomerates; promote greater documentation, tax revenue and economic growth.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2021