Staff Reporter Islamabad
The business community in a meeting at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) on Wednesday expressed grave concerns over the 400 percent hike in tax rates on the turnover of flour mills and called upon the government to immediately withdraw this unprecedented hike to save the common man from a new wave of food inflation and flour shortage.
Addressing the meeting, President ICCI Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that wheat flour was the staple food for majority of population in Pakistan and an essential part of their daily diet, but exorbitant in the income tax rate on the turnover of flour mills from 0.25 percent to 1.25 percent in one go would make significant increase in the price of flour and push it out of the reach of common man making his life more miserable.
He feared the unprecedented increase in tax on flour mills would make the flour more expensive for the common man consuming a larger share of his income due to which it would become very difficult for him to meet the basic needs of his life.
The ICCI President said that the Covid-19 pandemic has already rendered many workers jobless, reducing income of many families and in these circumstances raising tax rates on flour sector would create multiple problems, especially for the low income segments of the society.
He demanded that the government should immediately withdraw the unjustified hike in tax rates on flour mills, otherwise, the people would face food insecurity leading to unpredicted consequences for them.