Withholding tax : Traders in Multan on strike today

From September 4, traders will halt transactions with commercial banks

MULTAN: The All Pakistan Anjuman-i-Tajaraan has announced that they would launch nation-wide protest demonstrations against withholding tax. “Traders in Multan will march around the [Multan] Regional Income Tax Directorate and hold a sit-in there on Wednesday, All Pakistan Anjuman-i-Tajaraan chairman Khawaja Muhammad Shafiq said on Tuesday.

He said rallies would be held in all cities starting September 2. “From September 4 onwards, in the second phase of the protest, traders will halt transactions with commercial banks and stop all dealings with banks.” Finally, a shutter down strike was planned for September 9, he said.

Shafiq said the All Pakistan Anjuman-i-Tajaraan had submitted a charter of demands to the government. “If the government accepts our demands, we will call off the strike.”

He demanded that the government constitute a central committee and 14 regional committees to settle the withholding tax issue. Shafiq said that they had not ruled out talks with the government. He urged the government to discuss the matter with “real” stakeholders. In the events that talks failed, traders would have no choice but to take to the streets, he said.

Elaborating on their charter of demands, Shafiq said they had asked the government to defer imposition of withholding tax on bank transactions till December 31. “The 0.3 per cent tax on cash withdrawal should be suspended for those filing tax returns and tax collected since August should be refunded,” he said.

He said the government could amend the Sales Tax Act 1999 and recover wholesale tax from manufacturers and importers. “Traders should be exempt from value added tax.”

The Anjuman-i-Tajaraan leader demanded amendments to the Income Tax Ordinance 2001, abolition of the slabs and GP systems, and a simple tax system. He said turnover tax must not exceed 0.25 per cent.

He said traders filing tax returns for the first time, who fell in the Rs500 million capital bracket, and had no more than one house, one shop and one vehicle should be exempt from audit for five years under the Accounts Regularisation Scheme.

Shafiq said the government must constitute regional committees for Lahore, Karachi, Sargodha, Sialkot, Multan, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Quetta, Pishawar, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. “The traders are united on this issue…we have resolved to send the government a strong message in this regard.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd,  2015.