LAHORE: The Progressive Group’s traders and industrialist has congratulated the traders and business community for showing unity and staging a successful shutter down strike across the country to press the government for withdrawal of 0.3 percent withholding tax imposed on all banking transactions.
It is hoped that the same spirit will be shown on August 5 and till the acceptance of their demands.
Progressive Group’s President Khalid Usman, Deputy Secretary Muhammad Ejaz Tanveer and Abdul Wadood Alvi, In Charge election campaign Associate Class in a joint statement here on Monday said that the government should had consulted the true representatives of the traders and businessmen prior to imposing such indirect taxes which are aimed just to embarrass the businesses and nothing else.
They said no businessman is against paying taxes but the government instead of burdening the existing taxpayers should expand the tax base by bringing those in to the net who are not paying it.
Constitution of committees by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in the name of facilitating the traders will not work. “The government should pay attention to the real cause of concern. This kind of indirect tax will have a multiplied impact on the transactions. It is hampering the banking transactions and using formal money transactions channels,” they added.
They said this tax will not only decrease economic activity but also encourage people to handle all their transactions in cash to avoid taxes. It will also hamper the government efforts of expanding the tax net. They also criticized the chambers and those trader leaders who had betrayed the traders in this strike and said that now business circles should understand who stand with them in their hour of need and who keep mum for their vested interests.
They said that this tax which would discourage use of banking channels also hamper the business of largest service sector i.e. banking sector thus leading to loss of revenue to the national exchequer which is collected on banking services. They said the government should understand that protests and strikes always hit the economic activities hard therefore this tax should be withdrawn immediately in the larger interest of the economy. They said their group is with all the trade and industrial associations against this imposition of tax on bank transactions.
Progressive Group leaders hoped that the traders’ community would continue to exhibit this exemplary unit and force the government to withdraw this unjustifiable tax.
