LCCI presents key budget proposals to Senate
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Senior Vice President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Engineer Khalid Usman has presented key Budget Proposals to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue which was chaired by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla.
Engineer Khalid Usman in his address said that the upcoming Federal Budget 202526 holds critical importance for Pakistan's economic revival and the LCCI had prepared an in-depth budget document after thorough consultations with its members.
LCCI leaders stressed the importance of framing policies that support industrial growth, trade expansion and macroeconomic stability. A key demand presented was to broaden the tax net instead of putting additional burdens on existing taxpayers.
He commented that restructuring the tariff system is essential to promote industrialisation. He advocated adopting a cascading tariff structure whereby lower duties are applied to raw materials, moderate duties on semi-finished goods and higher rates on finished products. Such a model would encourage local value addition and discourage excessive reliance on imports.
They said that the LCCI firmly opposed the Ministry of Commerce's proposed blanket 0 to 20% tariff regime, calling it detrimental to domestic industrial competitiveness. On the issue of taxation, LCCI official the alignment of FBR's SME definition with SMEDA's, recommending that enterprises with an annual turnover of up to Rs800 million be classified as SMEs, instead of the current Rs250 million limit.
The proposed that the cascading principle should also be applied to sales tax, with 0% on raw materials, 5-8% on intermediate goods and 18% on finished products.
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