Malakand awaits tax exemption order
People, traders and business circles across Malakand Division remain deeply concerned and restless over the continued non-implementation of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government's announced provincial tax exemption and the failure to issue the related official notification.
Public circles say Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and PTI K-P President Junaid Akbar Khan had announced in a jirga that provincial taxes would be abolished immediately in all districts of Malakand Division. Despite that announcement, no formal official notification has been issued to date.
After the announcement, residents and the trading community of Malakand Division had welcomed the decision, calling it the fulfilment of their long-standing demand. However, the absence of a notification has steadily increased uncertainty among the public. Citizens insist that if the government has genuinely decided to abolish provincial taxes, immediate legal implementation must follow.
On the other hand, the enforcement of various federal taxes in Malakand Division by the Federal Board of Revenue has also caused serious anxiety among the public, traders and industrialists.
People note that while the provincial government continues to announce the abolition of taxes, the imposition of federal taxes is disrupting business activities and leaving the people of Malakand Division in a state of severe unease.
Malakand Division has historically enjoyed a special constitutional and legal status. After the merger of the former states of Swat, Dir and Chitral into Pakistan, these areas were exempt from various federal laws and levies. Under the erstwhile Article 247 of the 1973 Constitution, a special administrative and legal status was maintained for the region, and successive presidential orders and legal arrangements continued to grant Malakand Division exemptions from certain federal taxes and duties.
Although Article 247 was abolished after the 25th Constitutional Amendment, legal questions surrounding Malakand Division's historic tax exemptions have remained under discussion in various judicial and administrative forums. In recent years, protests, shutter-down strikes and campaigns by traders' organisations against the imposition of federal taxes have also been witnessed across the division.
Public circles have demanded that the Chief Minister of K-P Sohail Afridi ensure immediate implementation of his announcement by issuing a formal notification abolishing provincial taxes. They have also urged the federal government and the FBR to adopt a clear policy on the matter, keeping in view Malakand Division's constitutional, historical and legal status.
Citizens, traders and various organisations have stated that the people of Malakand Division will no longer be content with mere announcements and promises. They are awaiting practical steps, legal protection and official notifications.
They have made it clear that the people of the division will continue to raise their voice on every democratic and legal forum for the protection of their constitutional, historical and legal rights.