PESHAWAR: Business and commercial activities came to a grinding halt in the provincial capital as traders observed complete strike to protest against the imposition of 0.3 percent withholding tax on all banking transactions exceeding Rs 50,000.
On the call given by the All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajiran (APAT), all markets, shopping plazas, and bazaars in Peshawar, including Ashraf Road, Qissa Khawani, Saddar, Kohat Road, Shoba Bazaar, Jangi Mohallah, Ghanta Ghar, Karimpura, Meena Bazaar, Dalgarh, Saraaf Bazaar and Andar Sher remained closed all the day.
Traders held protest camps, demonstrations and rallies against imposition of 0.3 per cent WHT on all banking transactions exceeding of Rs 50,000 and demanding the government withdraw the tax because the officials didn’t have “authentic data to differentiate between the filers and non-filers of income tax returns”.
The traders refused the incentives spelled out by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), sticking to their single point agenda of withdrawal of the withholding tax on banking transactions. They said that businessmen had never refused to pay taxes, but the government instead of taxing those who were already in the net, should bring new people in to the tax net.
Traders’ leaders said that this tax not only made life of the traders miserable, but also destroyed the whole banking sector, as it was now facing a collective loss of Rs 878 billion. The traders organizations have threatened to observe another strike on October 7, if their demand was not met. Their representatives also called for Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s resignation
“The government is eying to collect Rs 35 billion through imposition of 0.3 percent withholding tax, burdening taxpayers, instead of taking measures for bringing new taxpayers into the existing tax net, says Sharafat Ali Mubarak, Central president of Anjum-e-Tajiraan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He viewed that according to economists, the country would have lost Rs 65 billion due to one-day strike, so we almost lost Rs 195 billion to the national exchequer, because of our fourth time strike, he added.
Mr Mubarak said “We will collect Rs 70 billion rather Rs 35 billion if the government should sit and negotiate with us”. He asked the government to withdraw 0.3 percent withholding tax or defer it, and should start talks with trading community. He warned that if the government didn’t accept their demand, they would again hold strike after Eidul Azha on October 7, 2015.
The government had imposed a 0.6 percent withholding tax on all kinds of transactions above Rs 50,000 however, after demonstrations against the act, the tax was reduced to 0.3 percent until September 30. On the other hand, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has summoned past two-month records of traders who made transactions above Rs 50,000. The record will be helpful in identifying tax filers and evaders.
It was reported that traders’ community had written a letter to the army chief, requesting Gen Raheel Sharif to intervene in the matter and arrest the corrupt elements in the government. It is pertinent to mention here that Manufacturers and industrialists have remained aloof from the local politics of the business community, because of an agreement had already been reached between the FPCCI, business community and the finance ministry over the matter.
