By Commerce Reporter
LAHORE — President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mian Abuzar Shad, has strongly criticized the recently promulgated Presidential Ordinance amending the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 and Federal Excise Act 2005, terming it “anti-business, trade-hostile, and a direct threat to the government’s Urran Pakistan Programme.”
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He warned that the new measures, especially allowing immediate tax recovery after court decisions and empowering FBR officers to be posted inside business premises, will “choke industrial operations and erode investor confidence.”
“This SRO will not survive beyond 40 days. It is contrary to the spirit of economic revival and will shatter the fragile trust the business community has in the system,” Shad said, urging the government to immediately withdraw the ordinance.
The LCCI chief warned of serious consequences for the economy, including, capital flight due to arbitrary bank account freezes without notice, operational harassment, as tax officers can now be stationed inside business facilities, fear among genuine taxpayers, who may feel criminalized by overreaching authority and Supply chain disruptions from FBR’s direct interference in production monitoring.
“These amendments undermine due process and create an environment of surveillance, not support. This is not how you make Pakistan fly; this is how you clip its wings,” he stated.
The LCCI has vowed to mobilize the national business community and present its case before key stakeholders, warning that if the ordinance remains enforced, industrial growth, job creation, and exports may all suffer a serious setback.
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