KARACHI: Karachi Tajir Action Committee, a union of Karachi’s traders associations, has demanded of the government to rescind certain taxation measures notified in the Finance Act 2019-20, and threatened a strike if grievances were not addressed.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, office bearer of Tajir Action Committee Jameel Paracha said that if their demands were not met, a three-day shutter-down strike would be observed from July 08, 2019.
“The decision to go for a strike was taken in consultation with all the traders’ bodies of Karachi and Action Committee has all their support,” Paracha said.
President Karachi Electronic Dealers Association (KEDA) Rizwan Irfan said they had presented 11 demands, and if the same were not met, the duration of the strike could be increased.
He said they had been trying to approach FBR authorities and even the concerned ministers, “but none of our meeting requests and letters was responded. If the government doesn’t want to listen to use, we are left with no other option but to go to strike.”
Rizwan Irfan said trade associations in Baluchistan and other parts of Sindh were also in contact and they might also join the strike.
Tajir Action Committee has demanded of the government to do away with the value added tax; restore income tax exemption upto sale of Rs1.2 million, and reduce turnover tax from 0.6 percent to 0.3 percent.
The Action Committee has also demanded to restore income tax exemption for up to Rs1.2 million annual salary income, and abolish the condition of taking CNIC’s copy from customers of over Rs50,000.
Karachi Tajir Action committee has also demanded of the government to introduce fixed tax regime for traders with four different slabs and asked the revenue body to stop harassing traders in the name of audit.
The traders unit demanded to abolish the new taxation regime for mobile phones and proposed Rs400/piece tax. They also demanded to withdraw regulatory duty at the rate of 10 percent on import of used and second hand cloth.