MULTAN City News

Traders sit-in against WHT on bank transactions today
From Our Correspondent
MULTAN: Traders will stage a sit-in against 0.3 per cent withholding tax on bank transactions outside the Income Tax Multan Directorate today.
Talking to newsmen here on Tuesday, All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajran chairman Khawaja Muhammad Shafiq said that the protest drive had been divided into phases and the first phase would begin from today when the traders would stage demonstrations across the country. In the second phase, the traders would stop doing transactions with banks from September 4, he said, adding that the traders would observe complete strike on September 9.
He demanded the government constitute the central and 14 regional committees to settle the withholding tax issue. He said that the regional committees should be constituted in Lahore, Karachi, Sargodha, Sialkot, Multan, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Quetta, Peshawar, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. He urged the government to invite real stakeholders for dialogue instead of meeting with the unconcerned people. Khawaja Shafiq urged the government to defer the withholding tax on bank transactions till December 31. He suggested that the Sales Tax Act 1999 should be amended. He demanded amendments to the Income Tax Ordinance 2001, abolishing the slab and GP systems.
He said that the new filers having capital of Rs 500 million, a home, a shop and a vehicle should be exempted from audit for five years under the Accounts Regularisation Scheme. He said that the KP should be exempted from income tax for three years because of poor law and order situation. He said that the traders were united for their cause.