All Pakistan Traders Union on Tuesday warned of marching towards Islamabad if the government did not withdraw withholding tax.
Addressing a press conference at the Lahore Press Club, Naeem Mir, General Secretary of All Pakistan Traders Union, said that a protest had been scheduled today (Wednesday) and if the government seemed unmoved, they will march towards Islamabad and stage sit-in outside the Federal Board of Revenue office.
Naeem Mir asserted that imposition of 0.3 per cent withholding tax on bank transaction was unacceptable. He said the government was pressurising traders on the directives of International Monetary Fund (IMF).
While supporting the stance of traders on the issue of withholding tax on banking transaction, the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry has decided to observe strike today.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, LCCI President Ijaz A Mumtaz said the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry had decided to go with the traders as they were backbone of the economy and playing a role of a silent soldier for economic uplift of the country.
He said unfortunately the government had not shown any flexibility on the issue of withholding tax on banking transactions and forced business community to observe strike to register their protest.
Ijaz A Mumtaz said the government should withdraw this tax as it had been observed that tax collection machinery had no authentic data to specify difference between filers and non-filers.
He said the imposition of 0.3 percent withholding tax on banking transaction was a sheer injustice and against the government’s own policy of tax net expansion. He said this was a double taxation which was bound to hit the trade and industry hard. He said the government should understand that protests and strikes always hit the economic activities hard, therefore this tax should be withdrawn immediately in the larger interest of the economy. He said the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry would support all the trade and industrial associations against this imposition of tax on bank transactions.
He said if tax on all bank transactions was imposed forcefully, it would not only hamper the trade and economic activities but would also tarnish the image of the government. The LCCI president said that a number of trade and industrial associations had approached the LCCI and informed that imposition of tax on all banking transactions had caused unrest and put the interests of business community on stake.
He said the imposition of this tax would force business community to conduct its monetary transactions in cash that would promote the undocumented economy.
Ijaz A Mumtaz said all business-related decisions should be taken in consultation with the stakeholders as being done in the developed countries.
