DNA
ISLAMABAD
Business leader and former President of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt, on Monday said Pakistan has become a paradise for tax evaders.
He said the country would remain in misery until the tax-evading elite was dealt with a heavy hand. Shahid Rasheed Butt said in a statement issued here today that the tax concessions for the former FATA and PATA should be abolished as it is causing billions of rupees of loss to the economy.
He said that some smugglers have also set up factories in tribal areas, due to which factories located in urban areas are being closed, which is causing a loss of revenue and employment. Shahid Rashid Butt said that industrialists from Punjab and Sindh have also opened factories for ghee, oil, steel, and other items in tribal areas, the production of which is many times more than the local needs.
The business leader said that the surplus production of these factories is smuggled to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, and Punjab, causing huge losses. He said that while giving tax exemption to the tribal areas, it was decided that the production there would be sold locally so that the people could get cheap goods.
