A clear division among traders is evident given the different scheduled dates of protests against 0.6 percent withholding tax on all banking transactions. All Karachi Tajir Ittehad (AKTI) has announced that it will hold a protest demonstration on August 05, Islamabad Chamber of commerce and Industry (ICCI) on August 3, while All Pakistan Traders Association called for a country wide protest against withholding tax on August 1.
Talking to Business Recorder, Shahid Ghafoor Paracha, central leader of All Pakistan Traders Association, said traders across the country would observe a shutter-down strike on August 1 against the withholding tax on banking transactions. All traders support government measures to increase its revenue but before taking any measures relating to the traders the government should have taken them into confidence, he added. Paracha said that traders from Karachi to Khyber are united in a common cause and there is no split, among different traders unions; however, he acknowledged that some opportunists are trying to divide the traders but those not supporting the August 1 protest call are not representative of even a market committee, he added.
He said that Nawaz Sharif came to power with the support of traders, but the Sharif administration did not appear to be serious in addressing the reservations of the business community. The ongoing negotiations with the government are not yielding positive results, he maintained.
"I am a Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) supporter and worker but as a representative of the traders I am not going to accept any personal relief," he said when asked whether the government had assured some relief to those trade bodies who would create a division within the traders.
When contacted Atiq Mir, Chairman of AKTI, said that imposition of withholding tax on all banking transactions was unacceptable to traders, adding that it was a conspiracy against real traders. He said that the August 01 protest was being sponsored by the government with the objective of creating a division between traders and by promoting disunity in community the government hopes to quell all resistance from the traders. He said his body was the real representatives of all traders and their protest would be on August 05. Mir further accused the government of sponsoring a protest and publicising it through the media.
He accused the government of providing millions of rupees to its favourite group of traders to create a division, adding that AKTI will prove on August 5 that it was the truly representative body of traders working to protect their interests. If August 5 protest fails then it would strengthen FBR to impose any inequitable tax it wants, he added. Mir further stated that the revenue collected through withholding tax on banking transactions was yielding billions of rupees without any effort on the part of tax officials.
Replying to a question he said that small traders were not so wealthy as to afford Rs 300 tax on every banking transaction. "We as traders deposit our sales in the banks everyday and withdraw amounts next day for daily business related activities. Giving the nature of our profit margins how can one trader afford such a tax on every banking transaction, the government needs to withdraw it," he said.
Mir said that in the agreement between the business community and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), no representative of true traders associations was present. Traders in the twin cities of Rawalpindi/Islamabad are also divided over the issue of shutter-down strike against the imposition of 0.3 percent withholding tax on banking transactions, applicable till 30 September after which the 0.6 percent levy as announced in the budget would apply.
The traders belonging to Traders Action Committee led by Nasir Mir and People''s Traders Cell led by Tariq Waheed Butt have announced that they will join the shutter-down strike call given by AKIT on August 5. They said the Punjab government used the PML-N traders to create differences within the community to sabotage the campaign for their rights.
"We will observe a shutter-down strike on August 5 on the call of Markazi Anjuman Tajiran of the country. The PML-N supported traders want to divide the traders on their genuine demand to withdraw the imposition of the withholding tax," Nasir said. He said the PML-N traders were assigned the duty by the government to sabotage the strike. He accused the leaders of those bodies supporting August 1 strike of getting PML-N tickets in upcoming elections of local bodies.
However, the group led by Shahid Ghafoor Paracha and Cantonment Traders Association president Zafar Qadri said that they would observe the strike on Saturday 1 August. They however acknowledged that both the calls were generated from Lahore as the traders were divided in two groups over the strike. Meanwhile, a third group has also emerged among the traders as the Joint Traders Action Committee of Islamabad has announced that it will observe strike on August 3.
According to a statement issued here on Friday by Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and industry, the business community of Islamabad agreed to go for a shutter-down strike on 3rd August 2015 against the imposition of 0.3 percent withholding tax on banking transactions. The consensus decision was announced by Abdul Rauf Alam, Chairman Joint Traders Action Committee, during a meeting of business community in Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The traders vowed that they would not accept ''forced'' collection of withholding tax on banking transactions and called upon the government to immediately withdraw 0.3 percent WHT on banking transactions of Rs 50,000/- and more per day. They said that government should avoid coercive measures for tax collection and make efforts to expand tax net in consultation with all stakeholders, including business leaders.
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