Traders strike today against withholding tax

PEHSAWAR: The traders will observe countrywide shutdown strike against the levy of Withholding Tax (WHT) 0.3 percent on banking transactions today (Wednesday).
The traders’ Supreme Council, the joint body of the All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajiraan (APAT) factions led by Naeem Mir and Khalid Pervez, joined hands against the federal government for extending the scope of WHT to the cash withdrawal and other banking instruments.
The WHT, introduced in the annual budget of 2015-16, applies to cash withdrawals as well as all transfers over Rs50,000 per day through any financial instrument or account-to-account payments and its rate doubles to 0.6 per cent for the non-filers.
The 36-member Supreme Council of the traders bodies on Tuesday announced that they had mobilised an overwhelming majority of traders, retailers and wholesalers across the country to keep their shutters down today in protest against WHT on banking transactions.
The coordination committee of the Supreme Council held meetings with the office-bearers of various traders bodies that continued late in the evening to make the strike a success.
Haji Muhammad Afzal, who is heading the four-member coordination committee of the traders Supreme Council, told The News on Tuesday that with Wednesday’s strike the traders movement against the levy or WHT would enter another phase.
He said the traders belonging to all groups across the country had formed the Supreme Council having representation from trader organisations from all parts of the country to oppose tooth and nail the government’s decision of imposing WHT on bank transactions.
He said the joint forum of the traders was inevitable after the government backed out of its pledge with the traders to withdraw its decision to levy 0.3 WHT on cash withdrawal.
Haji Afzal said the government had pledged that it would consider withdrawal of the WHT after the traders strike on August 1, but later it said the levy was part of the financial bill 2015-16 and it couldn’t be withdrawn.
He said the Supreme Council had launched a movement against the summersault of the government on the issue of WHT and an elaborate programme of protests lined up resist it.
Haji Afzal, who also heads Peshawar chapter of APAT, said the traders would continue the joint struggle till the government revoked its decision on the levy of WHT.
“Today’s shutdown is as per our schedule,” he said, adding that the movement was started on August 28 and it would continue to achieve its goal.
The trader leader said that they took out rallies in the width and breadth of the country on September 2, boycotted the bank transactions on September 4, but today’s protest would bring the trading and business activities in the country to a standstill.
“We will wait for two weeks so that people don’t face any difficulty during the upcoming Eidul Azha and after Eid the traders would resume the protest against the WHT,” he added.
Haji Afzal also rejected as propaganda the contention of the government that traders were not paying taxes. He said the government should suspend the WHT and the traders would pay it more in direct taxes than what it has estimated to collect as WHT during the current financial year.