Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders Patron Shahid Rasheed Butt on Sunday expressed concern over plan of the government to impose Rs 500 billion new taxes in the upcoming budget.

Masses as well as the business community will never accept new taxes as it will open floodgates for corruption and inflation, he said.

Shahid Rasheed Butt said that the government should not burden masses, rather it should initiate reforms in the FBR to boost revenue by trillions. The countries that accorded autonomous status to their tax authorities had seen growth of 40 to 120 per cent in the collection therefore Pakistan should do the same, he said.

Around one million people file tax return in the country while the figure was 1.6 million in the 1990s which indicated increasing distrust among taxpayers which was an incentive for evasion, he said.

The veteran business leader said that the number of taxpayers that pay half a million or above as tax is around 35,000 who had been focused. These people were targeted through audits, notices and raids which sent a very negative message to others, he added.

According to World Bank, a Pakistani industrialist having business in all four provinces had to pay tax for 95 times while it took 598 hours per annum to prepare documents, he said. On the other hand, businessmen in Singapore had to pay tax for six times in one year while Malaysian businessmen would pay tax for 14 times per annum, he further commented.