PESHAWAR, April 20: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is mulling over bringing Afghan businessmen, operating in Pakistan, under the tax net.

“Anybody who is doing business irrespective of nationality can be taxed under the income tax law, but we have to work out a mechanism to bring the Afghan businessmen into tax net,” Khawar Khurshid, member Inland Revenue FBR, told a meeting at Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) here on Wednesday.

Opening the meeting, SCCI president Usman Bashir Bilour welcomed the FBR move to bring Afghan traders, operating in Peshawar, under tax net.

He offered support to the tax collecting agency for implementing this decision.

Approximately, he said, over 12,000 Afghan nationals had small and medium businesses only in Peshawar.

They were paying no duties to the government, putting their Pakistani counterparts into difficulties, he added.

Referring to the point, Mr Khurshid said that income tax law allowed levying taxes on person of any nationality, but the main problem at the moment the tax collectors were facing was how to issue the NTN certificate, which could only be issued against Computerised National Identity Card.

“I will take up the matter at board level to find out a way for bringing Afghans into the tax net,” he assured the meeting.

According to him, Proof of Registration cards issued to Afghan nationals by the National Database and Registration Authority can be used as alternate identity cards.

Officials from FBR, Regional Tax Office and a large number of businessmen attended the meeting, which was convened to discuss the problems of taxpayers and find out solutions to them.

Mr Khurshid assured local business community of implementing the prime minister's financial package for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He also announced issuing exemption certificates from the income tax for a period of one year instead of three months on demand of the businessmen. Similarly, he also assured the gathering to expedite refund of sales tax.

Earlier, Mr Bilour, Zahid Shinwari, Nauman Wazir, Mohammad Ishaq, Zaiul Haq Sarhadi, Malak Niaz Ahmad and other members of the chamber apprised the visiting FBR official about their problems relating to different taxes.

Meanwhile, Mr Khurshid also held a meeting with the officers of RTO Peshawar, where he stressed the need for facilitating taxpayers.