May 11, 2022: President Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Irfan Iqbal Sheikh has called for repeal of CNIC condition for a buyer while doing transaction and said that this condition needs to be withdrawn in the upcoming Federal Budget 2022-23 and the Finance Act 2022 for being counterproductive as it has failed to generate more taxes rather than encouraging the use of flying invoices and fake documentation.
In his statement issued by the FPCCI here Wednesday, the FPCCI President said that nowhere in the world a buyer was being asked to submit their CNIC while making a purchase. He was of the view that introduction of CNIC condition was merely a part of political sloganeering at the cost of the national economy. The FPCCI has also briefed Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Miftah Ismail on the issue and about its negative impact on commercial activities in the country, he said and added that it negatively affected the production and market sales of the businesses in Pakistan. He claimed that the Chairman FBR during his visit to FPCCI few months back, conceded that as result of CNIC condition, there had been a drop in Sales Tax collection.
The President FPCCI pleaded that the only workable solution to generate more taxes was to present a business-friendly and pro-growth budget in consultation with the representative bodies of trade and industry especially FPCCI, which was the apex business forum of the country. Irfan Iqbal Sheikh reiterated that as President of the apex trade body, he was playing his mandated role of building bridges and promoting cooperation between the business community and the government and its regulators from the FPCCI platform.
