Excise & Taxation Department set to set up helpdesk for SITE industrialists.

KARACHI -- Secretary, Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Department, Govt. of Sindh Atif Rehman has announced to set up a Helpdesk at SITE Association of Industry to facilitate member industries in the matters of Property Tax, Professional Tax and Motor Vehicles Tax by deputing well reputed and high ranking officers, says a Press release. He was addressing members of the Association on the occasion of his visit. He was accompanied by DG Excise and Taxation Orangzeb Akbar Panhwar and other high officials of his department. Atif Rehman said that last year, property tax has been transferred to Local Govt. The department and our staff will guide and train them till 2024. The Excise and Taxation Department is only a collecting agency which transfers all revenue to the Sindh

Govt. account. Responding to a query about calculation of Property Tax, DG replied that property tax calculator is available online on the website. He agreed with members' suggestion that minimizing human interaction in this matter will yield better results. President SITE Association of Industry was of the view that SITE Ltd being the owner of SITE Area does not get its due share from Property Tax to carry out necessary maintenance and upkeep, and requested the same to be taken up by the Secretary at relevant forums. On the matter of Infrastructure Cess, he mentioned that approx. Rs 30 billion have been collected in the First Quarter alone (July-Sept 2023) in the account of Sindh Infrastructure Development Cess upon which, SITE President emphasized the need to spend some money on the improvement of infrastructure of SITE area. Earlier, SITE President Muhammad Kamran Arbi presented a brief introduction of SITE area Karachi and highlighted its contribution to the national economy. He briefed the Chief Guest on the issues being faced by members of the Association related to Property Tax payments, Professional Tax payments and Motor Vehicle Tax etc.

He appreciated...