ICT traders demand withdrawal of board tax notices

Islamabad: A meeting of the Traders Welfare Committee of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) was held under the chairmanship of its convener Khalid Mahmood Chaudhry, which was attended by representatives of various markets. A resolution was passed calling upon Sheikh Ansar Aziz, Mayor Islamabad to immediately issue orders for withdrawal of board tax notices issued to traders.

Another resolution was passed to call upon the CDA to arrange the construction of multi-storey parking plazas in various Marakaz and markets and start development work in these business areas to save them from further destruction.

Addressing the meeting, Tahir Abbasi, Senior Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that no development work was done in any market of Islamabad for the last five years though the collection of taxes was higher than before.

Expressing his views, Khalid Mahmood Chaudhry, Former Senior Vice President ICCI and Convener of the Chamber's Traders Welfare Committee said that the MCI had unilaterally increased the board tax, which was illegal as stakeholders were not taken into confidence. He demanded that Sheikh Ansar Aziz, Mayor Islamabad should immediately issue orders for the withdrawal of board tax notices issued to traders and urged that all legal requirements should be met before raising any kind of tax.

Chaudhry Nadeem ud Din, PTI Traders Wing Coordinator and Chairman of the Task Force said that the present government wanted to solve the problems of traders but was being hampered by differences between the MCI and CDA. However, all hurdles will be removed soon to address the issues of traders.

Muhammad Ejaz Abbasi, Sardar Tahir Mahmood, Muhammad Hussain, Malik Rab Nawaz, Abdul Rehman Siddiqui, Zahid Ahmed, Naveed Abbasi, Ch. Zafar Iqbal Gujjar, Chaudhry Irfan, Musharraf Janjua, Muhammad Kashif, Chaudhry Ashraf, Chaudhry Zahid Rafiq, Wasim Abbasi, Syed Altaf Hussain Shah, Chaudhry Ashraf Farzand, Ashfaq Hussain Chatha, Ahmed Khan, Yasir Abbasi, Raja Safeer, Waqas Janjua, Saeed Ahmed Bhatti, Mehboob Ahmed Khan and Chaudhry Nadeem ud Din, Chief Coordinator PTI Traders Wing attended the meeting.

Speaking at the occasion, they demanded that multi-storey parking plazas should be constructed in Marakaz and markets of Islamabad. They further demanded that all encroachments from markets should be removed to facilitate the growth of trade activities.