The Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday demanded withdrawal of tax imposed on the workers’ profit participation fund through the Finance Act 2015. The trade body also demanded that the government define workers as the finance act stated that the WPPF is taxable for employees who are not workers. ‘This initiated unnecessary debate and other ramifications on the definition of workers which could have been avoided. We believe all beneficiaries of the WPPF should get same treatment in tax,’ FICCI president Rupali Chowdhury said at the monthly luncheon meeting of the trade body at the Westin Hotel in the city. She also demanded withdrawal of the ceiling on contribution to the provident fund which was set at 8 per cent by the labour rules saying that the alignment would be very difficult for the companies who were already contributing a higher percentage. The ceiling on contribution to the PF might prompt labour unrest, Rupali said. She requested the government to engage in discussions with the stakeholders through different chambers before enacting any change in the relevant law saying that it was required to comply with more than 15 laws like income tax law, VAT law, foreign exchange regulation and labour law to operate a manufacturing company with distribution and marketing activities. ‘Sometimes, what we see that taking advantage of ambiguities of law in some cases the regulators unnecessarily harass entrepreneurs,’ she said. State minister for labour and employment Mujibul Haque was chief guest at the meeting while FICCI executive director Jamil Osman and executive committee member Christopher Young were present, , among others. Mujibul said that a good industrial relation was a precondition for development and the government and entrepreneurs needed to work together for productive employment and sustainable development. The definition of workers has been explained in the labour rules that were published in September 2015, he said.
