ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Muhammad Ahmed Waheed has said that business community is not against tax payment but the MCI’s increase of property tax by 300 per cent in one go is flabbergasting and urged the govt to withdraw this tax and gradually increase it by taking the business community into confidence.
He expressed these views while talking to MCI Director Revenue Mian Tariq Latif during his visit to ICCI on Wednesday. MCI Deputy Director Amir Ranjha was also present on the occasion.
Mohammad Ahmad Waheed said that encroachments in markets were not only created problems for the business community, they were also distorting the beauty of markets.
He stressed encroachments from all markets should be removed by taking trade associations of concerned markets in confidence and that the increase in board tax fee should also be reviewed.
He said that a verbal agreement was reached between DMA and ICCI for a board tax of Rs60 per square foot and it should now be implemented and added that sanitation arrangements in commercial and industrial areas should be improved while MCI should intensify its efforts to address the issues highlighted by the business community.
ICCI Senior Vice President Tahir Abbasi Muhammad Aslam Khokhar, Usman Khalid, Zia Chaudhry, Asher Hafeez, Khalid Chaudhry, Malik Rabinwaz, Nisar Ahmad Langa and others also highlighted the issues of the business community and offered proposals for their solution.
Mian Tariq Latif, Director Municipal Administration and Director Revenue, Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad speaking at the occasion said that encroachments from markets in Islamabad would be removed in cooperation with traders and this process would be started from Jinnah Supermarket. However, the cooperation of market unions was needed in this regard.
Mian Tariq Latif said that efforts would be made to solve the problems of the business community through understanding and in this regard a meeting of ICCI delegation would be arranged with Mayor of Islamabad. He said a joint committee of the two institutions would be considered to identify important issues and find their better solutions. He assured that he would fully cooperate with the chamber in resolving the key issues of the business community.
