Rs900b tax exemptions given to powerful lobbies through SROs.

Islamabad -- Pakistan Businesses Forum (PBF) has Wednesday alleged that powerful lobbies have been given huge tax exemptions through SROs saying that around 40 different SROs have been issued during last one year.

'Powerful lobbies have been given huge tax exemptions through SROs and that the whole tax system is now like an NRO for the elite class,' President Pakistan Businesses Forum (PBF), Sahibzada Mian Usman Zulfiqar. He said that SRO culture had strengthened the cartelisation process in the country.

President PBF said that the concessions and zero rating through SROs must be routed through parliament and it may be the discretion of the latter to maintain or drop these concessions. 'Though SRO culture was introduced in the era of 90s for political engineering through individual businesses'.

Sahibzada Usman said that the fact remains that parliament itself lacks the moral muscle to play an effective role and, as such, has never challenged the FBRs encroachment into its domain. It was under the Customs Act of 1969 that parliament had delegated powers of issuing the SROs to the FBR, he added. But since it is more than manifest now that these powers have been and are being misused, the parliament should revisit the law and, if found necessary, it should be repealed.

The SROs were meant to be an...