Peshawar   -   The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) president Fuad Ishaq has rejected imposition of ‘fixed tax’ on traders and warned to protest if the government didn’t withdraw unnecessary and unjust taxes forthwith.

Faud Ishaq was talking to a delegation of traders from Saddar Bazaar Peshawar led by Tajir Ittehad Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president Mujeeb-ur-Rehman here at chamber house on Monday. Other members of the traders’ delegation include Aftab Ahmad, Naved Ibrar, Malik Saeed, Nisar Khalil, Sameer Manzoor, Nauman Durrani, and Fazal Mehmood. On this occasion, SCCI vice president Ejaz Afridi was also present.

The traders alliance president Mujeeb-ur-Rehman apprised the meeting about apprehensions of traders on imposition of SRO: 1064 (I)/2024 dated 22 July 2024 by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), through which fixed tax from Rs30,000 to 45,000/ per shop is imposed. He urged upon the SCCI to take-up this issue with the government and FBR in an effective manner.

On which, the chamber president Fuad Ishaq gave full assurance to make all efforts for withdrawal of this unjust tax. He also said that tax system in Pakistan has completely failed, and adding owing to flawed policies of the government and FBR, the economy has remained 20 per cent documented and undocumented 80 percent, which is highly detrimental for the economy.

Emphasising the need to simplify the tax-system, the SCCI chief suggested the current Australian tax law that has been trying to impose in Pakistan, should replaced with the UAE one to make it easier in the country.

Fuad Ishaq recalled SCCI had already rejected taxation measures in the fiscal budget 2024-25, and for ‘Tajir Dost Scheme’ the chamber had suggested to implement this scheme after giving 20 years sovereign guarantee through parliament, but the government without considering it, and obeying the dictations of monetary organization did made the scheme as part of the budget document, which has been proved as anti-trader scheme, he maintained.

The SCCI president said they are fighting for the protection of the business community’s interests and as well the constitutional rights of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He also said the chamber will soon arrange a seminar on Pakistan’s outdated taxation system.

Commenting on the Pak-Afghan bilateral trade, Fuad Ishaq said that owing to the wrong policies of the government, the mutual trade volume between the two neighboring countries has been dropped at $500 million to $800 million from $3 billion. He gave a proposal for bringing tariffs of 212 items to duties of Afghanistan and allow import of these items to traders and then re-export so that smuggling would be eliminated.

The SCCI chief informed that Pakistan is earning foreign exchange worth $75 billion through human resources in which $35 billion are coming through banking channels and $40 billion other means.