peshawar   -  Traders of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have launched a protest against increase in taxes by Federal Board of Revenue and announced to besiege FBR offices in Islamabad today (Wednesday).

However, the traders have been divided over the issue as some leaders of small traders in Peshawar said that they would not be part of the protest because the recent 17% tax has been imposed on big businesses, not the small traders.

Markazi Tanzeem Tajiran Khyber Pakhtunkhwa staged a protest rally at New Rampura Gate bazaar on Tuesday. It was attended besides others by traders union president for Rampura Gate Abdul Waheed, Ashraf Road president Khurram Shahzad, Reti Bazaar president Ghulam Haider, Kochi Bazaar president Zahoor Awan and other trader leaders and business community.

Discussing the issue, Markazi Tanzeem Tajiran Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president Malik Meher Elahi said that traders were not opposing taxes but they should be taken into confidence over a fixed tax system.

He said tax on medicine, vehicles and cosmetics should be withdrawn.

Later talking to The Nation, Meher Elahi said that the government had planned to impose tax on retail level.

“The FBR authorities want to introduce a system in which each shopkeeper will collect 17% sale tax from each customer and the taxes collected on a day would have to be deposited in the State Bank of Pakistan the next day,” he added.

He said that all traders, whether those having major businesses or small traders, could not work under such a system because documentation is a tough task, which would require MBA qualified people requiring huge salaries to be paid by the shopkeepers.

“On the one hand, businesses were adversely affected by corona and on the other hand the FBR is now creating problems in the shape of additional taxes and tough conditions,” he added.

He said 17% tax is a huge amount, which would create problems for the people, who are already suffering due to price hike and other issues.

“FBR officials told us that 17% tax would be imposed on big shops and not small shops. But I did not get a satisfactory answer from an FBR official when I asked him why a common man would buy something having 17% tax from a big store, when it would also be sold by a small shop,” he added.

Meanwhile, Shahid Khan, president for small traders, said that they would not be part of the protest being staged in Islamabad today (Wednesday).

“The issues of small traders would be solved through negotiations with the government, and not through protests. This is why we would not be part of this protest,” he added.