KARACHI: Traders have rejected as “ridiculous” and “unacceptable” the tax scheme announced by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani, suspecting that the initiative is framed to protect big businessmen under the garb of small businesses.
President of the All Pakistan Organisation of Small Traders and Cottage Industries Karachi, Mehmood Hamid, said the announcement once again exposed what he described as the government’s double standards in taxation.
“Under the name of small traders, big fish are being saved, while the burden is being shifted onto small, helpless traders who are already fighting for survival,” Mehmood Hamid said in a statement.
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He pointed out that the government continues to complain throughout the year about missing tax targets, yet has already collected more than Rs178 billion from the public in the form of petroleum levy. “This policy has destroyed the economy and trade, and made life unbearable for ordinary citizens,” he added.
Mehmood Hamid said it was misleading to link turnovers of Rs20 to Rs25 crore with small traders. “No genuine small trader has such a turnover, multiple branches in major cities, or Point of Sale (POS) machines. These are all signs of large businesses,” he said.
He strongly criticized the proposal that traders paying a fixed tax of Rs25,000 would be exempted from POS requirements. “This means that traders with turnovers of up to Rs25 crore, who were previously paying hundreds of thousands of rupees annually due to POS monitoring, will now be given a massive concession,” he said. “This is being done to protect tax evaders, while tax collection will be redirected towards small traders.”
According to him, traders are willing to pay taxes, but the problem lies in government policies that favour tax dodgers. “Today’s announcement is clear proof that the rulers are standing with tax evaders instead of honest taxpayers,” he said.
He warned that if small traders are harassed or targeted under the cover of this policy, the government will be fully responsible for the consequences. “If tax thieves are protected and the noose is tightened around small traders, then the responsibility for the fallout will lie with the government and those trader bodies supporting these policies,” he said.
The organization president concluded that such contradictory policies would only deepen mistrust between traders and the state, adding that those who framed and announced this scheme would be accountable for all the economic and social damage resulting from it.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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