Traders seek removal of fixed tax component from newly-proposed scheme

LAHORE: The Chairman of the Supreme Council All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajiran, Naeem Mir, has urged the government to remove the fixed tax component from the newly proposed fixed tax scheme, arguing that its current structure unfairly burdens the country’s most economically vulnerable traders while falling short of its own documentation goals.

Speaking to Business Recorder, Mir noted that the scheme, as currently designed, would effectively apply only to micro-scale traders, since the government has already excluded distributors, wholesalers, brands, importers, exporters, processors, jewelers, and other mid-tier business categories from its scope. This exclusion, he said, leaves the scheme’s weight falling almost entirely on those with the most limited business turnover.

While welcoming certain aspects of the proposal, Mir praised the introduction of a simplified tax return form and the government’s broader push to bring traders into a documented economy, stating that traders across the country have no objection to being registered with the Federal Board of Revenue. He described these measures as a positive step in the right direction.

However, he firmly opposed the imposition of an annual fixed tax of twenty-five thousand rupees on micro-scale traders, calling it an ill-conceived decision that the Finance Minister should revisit without delay.

Mir proposed an alternative approach in which the first phase focuses exclusively on registering traders and connecting all commercial units to the FBR system through a simplified return form. The data collected should then be processed through the FBR’s digital infrastructure to identify those concealing their true business size to avoid taxation. Verified tax evaders should be issued legal notices and brought into the formal tax net accordingly.

He warned that deploying FBR officials into markets and bazaars to monitor QR codes, affix plaques, and directly collect fixed taxes from small shopkeepers contradicts the government’s own stated commitment to a faceless and fully digital tax system, a vision repeatedly endorsed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Mir concluded by expressing confidence that the Finance Minister would act on traders’ concerns and revise the scheme to focus solely on registration and economic documentation, a move he said would make the scheme both more acceptable to the business community and more effective in achieving its objectives.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026