LARKANA: The federal government has presented a balanced budget which has provided relief to the people and a new policy has also been introduced to bring traders into the tax net.

This was stated by the Income Tax Bar Association Larkana and Kambar-Shahdadkot districts General Secretary and chairman, sub-committee of Larkana Chamber of Commerce advocate Azam Shaikh while talking to media persons at his office on Sunday.

Shaikh said every unemployed person will be given Rs. Five lacs loan for personal business and 25% tax relief will be provided to every woman who wants to start her business and end of withholding tax for businessmen in banks are commendable jobs. He however said a 10% raise in monthly salaries and pensions of retired government servants is very low as compared to massive price hikes which should be increased. He said real estate business should be taken over in government control like in Canada and America, tax rates should be fixed and investors should not be harassed.

Shaikh said in both districts of Larkana and Kambar-Shahdadkot as many as 50,000 people can pay income tax annually but only 5000 to 6000 people are filing tax returns directly. He said after amendment in Section 203 income tax officer has been authorized to arrest any politician, bureaucrat, trader and any person related to any department on suspicion and produce him within 25 hours before the magistrate.

He said this amendment has created panic among the business community adding the Chambers of Commerce and other trading bodies should have been taken into confidence before the amendment because they fear they will be either blackmailed or harassed. He urged the members of civil society to pay taxes regularly as their national duty for which