LAHORE – The Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PCMEA) has rejected the proposed imposition of new final tax and normal tax regimes in the federal budget 2024-25.
The PCMEA urged the government to maintain old-practiced Final and Normal Tax regimes with maintaining income tax SRO 115/4 for export to safeguard carpet industry. The new proposed tax tweaks would create unnecessary hassle due to increased involvement of FBR officials, potentially leading to corruption.
In a meeting, the PCMEA Senior Vice Chairman Usman Ashraf and executive body members including Ashraf, Abdul Latif Malik, Akhtar Nazir Khan Cooki and Ijaz-ur-Rehman expressed concerns on imminent changes and demanded immediate withdrawal.
“Currently, one percent tax deduction under FTR is electronically processed without human intervention, ensuring transparency,” Usman Ashraf said, adding that revising this to a minimum tax rate requiring documentation would burden exporters and reduce Pakistan’s export revenue and foreign exchange earnings.
The PCMEA urged the government to maintain previously-functional final tax regime without changes, reduce one per cent income tax to 0.5 per cent, and consider adopting back-to-back LC models like Bangladesh to support the struggling export sector.
