Traders’ shutdown against withholding tax in KP today

PESHAWAR: Like other parts of the country, the traders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are all set to observe a complete shutdown today (Saturday) against the imposition of withholding tax (WHT) on bank transactions.
The traders are going on strike on the call of All Pakistan Anjuman-i-Tajiran (APAT) that announced a shutter-down across the country against the levy of 0.3 percent WHT on cash withdrawal on banking instruments.
The traders renewed the call for the shutter-down when talks between their representatives and the federal government failed on Monday after the traders refused to budge an inch from their stand of complete withdrawal of 0.3percent withholding tax on every banking sector transaction valuing over Rs50,000 and conducted by a non-filer.
A trader, pleading anonymity, said that the 0.3 percent tax was a catch-22 situation for traders as they would have to pay 0.3 percent on every banking transaction if they remain outside the net. And if they file return to avoid the WHT, they would have to declare assets and actual sales that may increase the payment of income tax for them and their sales would also be subject to standard 17 percent sales tax.
Vice-president of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter of the APAT, Sharafat Ali Mubarak, told The News on Friday that the traders had finalised all arrangements for today’s shutter-down.He said that almost the shutter-down had started, with the banners and posters displayed at various markets of the province, while contacts with all divisional chapters of the APAT had also been completed so that a total strike against the government’s move of imposing WHT could be ensured.
Sharafat Ali Mubarak, who is also president of Markazi Tanzeem Tajiran, said that the government had taken the decision to impose WHT on the traders who were already in the tax net. He said it should not impose WHT on bank transactions, which would be an indirect levy on the traders.
“We are already paying direct taxes and the government should bring those traders in the tax net who are not having National Tax Number (NTN),” he added.He said the government earlier came up with the policy of incentives and tax exemption for the traders to declare their undocumented money in banks. “But now it’s going to tax their bank transactions, which is not fair,” Sharafat said.
The government had announced incentives for the traders and others having undocumented money because it was widely observed that a number of traders did not disclose their real sales and incomes while many of them operate “benami” accounts to hide their sales with an aim to avoid taxes.
Sharafat said they would not accept the proposed WHT on bank transactions and the protest against the same would not end with today’s strike.“We will meet a day after our shutter-down to work out our further line of action against the government decision,” he said, adding that they would continue to resist it until the withdrawal of the decision on the WHT.“The traders will withdraw their money from the banks if the government remained adamant on imposing the WHT on bank transactions,” Sharafat said.