Business’ reps say won’t pay taxes if lockdown extended

PESHAWAR: The business community in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has decided to devise the standard operating procedures (SOPs) by holding consultation with the government within the next two days in order to resume industrial and business activities in the province.

However, they made it clear that the industrialists and traders would not pay the federal and provincial taxes due to the economic challenges and financing issues if the ongoing lockdown was further extended. They said they would be constrained to lay off workers under the prevailing circumstances. They said the business leaders would not be responsible if the small traders and shopkeepers took law into their own hands. The decisions were made during a joint meeting of industrialists and traders’ leaders held under chairmanship of the United Business Group senior leader and former Senator Ilyas Ahmad Bilour. Senator Nauman Wazir, Senator Mohsin Aziz, Senator Ghulam Ali, President Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Engineer Maqsood Anwar Pervaiz, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry Vice President Qaiser Khan, Anjuman-e-Tajiran Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chairman Shaukat Ali Khan, Anjuman-e-Tajiran Peshawar President Haji Muhammad Afzal, Central Tanzeem-e-Tajiran Peshawar President Malik Mehr Elahi, FPCCI former president Ghazanfar Bilour, former SCCI presidents Riaz Arshad, Zahidullah Shinwari, Adeel Rauf, Faiz Muhammad Faizi, Malik Niaz Ahmad and Zulfiqar Ali Khan, Industrialists Association Hayatabad Peshawar President Zarak Khan, Saraf Association Chairman Shakeel Saraf, Ihtesham Haleem, Sanaullah and others attended the meeting. The meeting unanimously decided to devise joint SOPs by holding consultation with government’s focal persons. It formed two committees to hold negotiations with the government. The committee members include Ghazanfar Bilour, Engineer Maqsood Anwar Pervaiz, Qaiser Khan, Zahidullah Shinwari, Shaukat Ali Khan and Malik Mehr Elahi. The members of the committee for formulation of joint SOPs include Qaiser Khan, Zarak Khan and Adeel Rauf. “If the government holds talks with any other group, the business community will not be party to the decisions,” one of the committee members said. The meeting decided the industrial and business activities would resume across KP by following the SOPs and also the precautionary steps proposed by the committees and government after April 14.