ISLAMABAD – The government and traders Wednesday reached an agreement,under which the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) delayed the condition ofCNIC for sales and purchase of goods till January 31st, 2020, hence puttingan end to the shutter-down strike the traders had been observing for secondconsecutive day on Wednesday.
According to the agreement, the government would not take any disciplinaryaction against traders who do not buy and selling goods on the basis oftheir CNIC till January 31 of next year.
It was agreed that the trader having turnover of Rs 100 million would nowpay only 0.5 percent turnover tax instead of 1.5 percent whereas for salestax registration, the limit has been enhanced from the Rs 0.6 millionannual electricity bill to Rs 1.2 million.
The agreement read that with the consultation of traders, the governmentwould reassess turnover tax for the low-profit business sectors while theissues of jewelers would be resolved on priority basis with closecoordination of the jewelers associations.
According to the agreement, the withholding tax imposed on the licensesrenewal fees for brokers would also be reviewed.
For the resolution of traders issues, a special desk would be establishedat FBR where an officer of Grade 20 or 21 would be appointed who would holdmeetings with traders representatives on monthly basis.
The government would also prepare a simple registration and income taxreturn filing form in Urdu language, it said adding that the tradercommittees would cooperate with the government in new registrations.
According to the agreement, a shop covering one thousand square feet wouldbe exempted from sales tax registration, and any decision to this effectwould be taken in consultation with the traders.
The decision to register the retailers, involved wholesale business, willbe taken with consultation of trader committee.
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Meanwhile, addressing a press conference after reaching the agreement,Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Dr Hafeez Sheikh saidthat in accordance with the vision of Prime Minister, Imran Khan, thegovernment wanted to facilitate traders and promote business activities inthe country.
The advisor was accompanied by Chairman Federal Board of Revenue, ShabbarZaidi and representative of traders, Khawaja Muhammad Shafeek.
He said that facilitating and involving traders in economic activities wasimperative for achieving the economic goals and promoting growth anddevelopment.
He said that the government wanted to impose due taxes and eradicatecorruption and this ultimately would be beneficial for traders themselves.He said that taxes were being imposed to support downtrodden segments ofthe society.
He lamented that there were around 4 million traders but only 0.393 millionwere paying taxes, adding that bringing the tax evaders into tax net was apriority of the government.
Meanwhile, speaking on the occasion, Business leader, Khawaja Shafeek whilethanking the government said that the traders were willing to pay taxes,however they faced some issues which needed to be resolved.
Later in the evening, Hafeez Shaikh in a tweet termed the agreement betweenthe government and traders as a good news for economy.
