The Fata parliamentarians have sought exemption of taxes on local industry which were imposed after passage of the 25th Constitutional Amendment by the Parliament.
Taj Muhammad Afridi chaired the meeting of Senate Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions on Wednesday. The parliamentary panel said that there will be serious implications of withdrawal of exemption of taxes on electricity and imports for local industry of Fata as a result of the 25th Constitutional Amendment.
The chairman committee directed the chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to come up with the proposal for the revival of old tax system for Fata otherwise the local industry would be shut down and people would face massive unemployment in the area.
"The FBR is unable to provide safeguard to local industry from taxation which has been enforced after the constitutional amendment," the chairman observed.
The member FBR informed the committee that the exemption of taxes for the local industry situated in merged districts of Fata is a complex issue and sought additional time to sort out a mechanism. Secretary Planning and Development Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, briefed the panel regarding Annual Development Plan 2018-19 and Annual Development Plan 2019-20 of the tribal districts. The committee members recommended the government to allocate and release Rs 31 billion in the next financial year for the development of ongoing projects.
The Tesco chief briefed the panel regarding reserved quota and supply of electricity to tribal districts.