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Grocers reject proposed fixed tax

Threatened to carry out a nationwide protest against the tax

Our Correspondent June 07, 2026 Less than a minute read

RAWALPINDI:

The Grocery Merchants Association has rejected the government's annual fixed tax of Rs25,000. They said that the Rs25,000 being imposed on small traders in addition to a one per cent turnover tax, was unacceptable under any circumstances.

They threatened to carry out a nationwide protest against the tax. Central Grocery Merchants Association Divisional President Saleem Pervaiz Butt said that the fixed tax and one per cent turnover tax will take the total tax up to Rs500,000 per year. He clarified that shopkeepers' profit on grocery items such as flour, sugar, ghee and cooking oil is Rs5 to Rs15 per year, which means that Rs500,000 in tax is simply unfeasible.

"If the fixed tax Rs25,000 and one per cent of the turnover, a year later, the fixed tax will be Rs50,000 and three per cent of the turnover, which will spell disaster for small shopkeepers," said Butt. He added that if the government was willing to roll back the one per cent tax, they would accept the Rs25,000 fixed tax.

COMMENTS (5)

M. Abid Nasim | 2 weeks ago | Reply The tax reform should include all the segments to ease out the already burdened salaried class.

Altaf Shakoor | 2 weeks ago | Reply No compromise this time. Coalition government is only interested in the next election. The hidden hand running the government should not show any mercy to them. Salaried class people are bearing the load of IMF dictation. Real estate agri sector plus retailers should be brought in the text net. Enough is enough.

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Sarfaraz | 2 weeks ago | Reply The government cuts 75 000 rupees every month from salaried associate professors of university with hand to mouth condition. Not one 5k 20k 40k but 75k. The PML-N has sold the country to the IMF to dictate everything. Bring back real representatives of the poor people i-e PPP under whose governance under Zardari the salaried Pakistanis received 100 increase. Even now the only political force that speaks against such draconian measures is the PPP.

Umer | 2 weeks ago Associate professor ki pay pr age hand to mouth hea tou phir mazdouri kr lea

yasirmasood | 2 weeks ago | Reply Any tax on untaxed business will be not acceptable By them anyway. It seems the only proper tax payer are salaried individual who force to pay the taxes. So the govt need to enforce the tax any cost. Otherwise no one will agree to pay the taxes.

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