Small traders are likely to end their differences and form a unity platform to start their protest afresh against 0.3 percent withholding tax on banking transactions and urged the Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to resolve the continuing crisis without further delay. Traders across the country observed two strikes (August 1 and 5) but both had affected the traders unity and hurt their protest drive against WHT on banking transactions.
"Instead of giving separate calls for strikes or protest demonstrations, traders from now will follow a mutual plan," Chairman All Karachi Tajir Ittehad, Atiq Mir said on Saturday. He said that he had held detailed discussion with representatives of both groups of All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajiran and had come to an agreement to continue protest drive collectively from a single platform.
Despite the two strikes separately held, he said the traders still stood by their demands till the government will abolish the WHT on banking transaction. "I asked Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to come up with plan to end the traders' continuing protests and solve the crisis amicably," he said.
He offered the government that traders' bodies would help to reform taxation system in the country and hoping the efforts would also trigger a big spread in tax net to enlist more and more taxpayers. "Tax reform will pave path for tax net spread," he said. Atiq Mir estimated that traders across the country had suffered at least Rs 20 billion losses during the two strikes and urged the Finance Minister Dar to withdraw this tax immediately.
Comments
Comments are closed.