Auto Industry Disagrees to Sharing Data With FBR

[Morpheus]

Auto Industry Disagrees to Sharing Data With FBR
Posted 1 hour ago by Waleed Shah

Arguments keep going back and forth between the Pakistani Auto-Sector and the government over various issues. As of late, we’ve seen the government and the auto sector butt heads over lack of incentives for the industry in the 2020 financial budget, and the government’s plans to import and manufacture the EURO-5 fuel in Pakistan.

In the latest development, however, the auto sector and the government have locked horns once again, but this time, over the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) demanding data from them. According to the reports, the automotive industry has argued that this “redundant practice” is likely to, “hurt the ease of doing business policy in the country”.


Both Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) and Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) have expressed their concerns about this development in their letters addressed to the Chairman FBR Javed Ghani.

PAMA Director-General Abdul Waheed Khan stated in his letter to the Chairman FBR that

The automobile industry has always supported the government’s stance over documentation of business, but this approach by FBR will be a negative impact on the local industry.

He further added that the auto industry is under regular and thorough observation by various government institutions, including the FBR and Engineering Development Board (EDB). Therefore, complete information of the sector should already be available with the government, making this whole exercise redundant and a hurdle in the business.

Echoing the same argument, PAAPAM Chairman Muhammad Akram stated, “EDB has already implemented verification process, which is currently demanded by FBR,” implying once again that this repetitive exercise is but a hindrance in the automotive sector’s operations.

The auto sector has faced a significant slump in recent days owing to the COVID-19 induced lockdowns, which affected the sales. Plus, with the gradual rise in taxes and the depreciation of the dollar, the auto sector is facing immense pressure.

Add that to the fact that the government and the automakers are apparently going through serious incompatibility issues as of late, which doesn’t bode well for the auto industry or for the customers. At this point, let us hope that both parties can reach a consensus soon; one that benefits the people as well.

https://propakistani.pk/2020/07/18/auto-industry-disagrees-to-sharing-data-with-fbr/
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[Hiraa]

How will the trio automobile companies will loot this country if there will be austerity measures?

The automobile industry has always supported the government’s stance over documentation of business, but this approach by FBR will be a negative impact on the local industry.


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more like negative impact in their bank accounts.

 

[Morpheus]

How will the trio automobile companies will loot this country if there will be austerity measures?



more like negative impact in their bank accounts.

They are getting the squeeze now. Lets hope it continues. Its the only way to break this car mafia.

 

[Hiraa]

They are getting the squeeze now. Lets hope it continues. Its the only way to break this car mafia.

About time they start feeling the heat. If our politicians looted and plundered, so did these companies. There has to be accountability and justice for the lack of quality and safety features in our cars for decades. We pay double amount for low-tier performance cars while the rest of the world is light years ahead of us.

 

[The Accountant]

They are right here.

They are required to submit details of each individual to which sales is done. So they are already submitting the data to FBR.

So instead of maintaining a central database and providing access to the field offices of the data, field officer are asking for purchase details of vehicle of individuals from car company. This is time wasting of private sector company.

FBR should understand that they are for business and not for FBR. There is already alot of pressure on business on maintaining a big tax and regulatory record. If something is already with FBR then they should look inside within FBR's own database rather than behave lazy and push business to do repetitive task on behalf of FBR.