LCCI Urges Govt To Address Cement Dealers' Concerns

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th May, 2025) Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the Federal board of Revenue

to review the recently issued SRO 578(I)/2025, citing severe operational challenges for industries,

particularly cement dealers and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs).

Talking to a delegation of All Pakistan Cement Dealers Association (APCDA) here Sunday,

LCCI President Mian Abuzar Shad said that Lahore Chamber appreciates the government's

intent to enhance tax documentation but the abrupt implementation and complex compliance

requirements of SRO 578(I)/2025 (dated April 8, 2025), risk disrupting business operations.

LCCI former presidents Mian Anjum Nisar and Muhammad Ali Mian and former vice president

Fahim ur Rehman Saigol also spoke on the occasion. Muneer Chaudhry was leading the delegation

comprising Abdul Majeed Sheikh, Zohaib Nasir Butt, Ashraf Saeed Malik, Chaudhry Sajid Ali,

Nauman Ahmad, Malik Waheed, Muhammad Asif Saeed, Rana Shair Ali, Asim Muneer, Tahir

Hameed, Tariq Mahmood and Azhar Abbas also expressed their views.

The LCCI President said that businesses must now submit exhaustive details of domestic

purchases and sales in revised Annex-A and Annex-C formats. A newly introduced Annex-Cl

requires taxpayers to reconcile each sales invoice with its corresponding payment—a provision

that places burden on SMEs lacking digital accounting infrastructure.

Mian Abuzar Shad said that business community was already grappling with persistent technical

glitches in FBR’s electronic filing system, including frequent system crashes leading to data loss

during return filings, Mismatched HS Codes and fixed Units of Measurement (UOM) causing input

errors, failures in uploading sales invoices in Annexure-C and inconsistencies across annexures

and unresolved issues from February 2025’s sales tax return filings, compounding delays.

He said that without transitional relief, the SRO could harm legitimate input tax claims due to

procedural errors, trigger unnecessary audits and penalties for minor discrepancies, strain

working capital cycles and especially for cement dealers and SMEs.

To mitigate these risks, the LCCI President proposed that FBR should allow businesses time

to adapt to new requirements, engage chambers of commerce to refine the SRO’s framework,

issue detailed guidelines on payment tracking and credit sales treatment, suspend penalties

temporarily while providing training and IT support.

Abuzar Shad said: "While we fully support the government’s efforts to formalize the economy,

reforms must balance compliance with practicality. The current SRO risks alienating SMEs,

the backbone of Pakistan’s economy. We urge FBR to adopt an inclusive approach."