Karachi: Karachi Tajir Ittehad, a traders’ action committee, has called a three-day strike in the city against new taxes imposed in the 2019-20 budget.
The shutter down strike has been called on Monday. The traders have made 11 demands that they want the government to fulfill. These include the removal of the VAT, a reduction in taxes to 0.3%, no sales tax on up to Rs10 million sales and no income tax on people making up to Rs1.2 million a year.
They also want the government to charge a fixed income tax from shopkeepers and stop its condition of customers’ CNICs required for transactions over Rs50,000.
Last month, the All Pakistan Anjuman Traders rejected the budget and its head Ajmal Baloch said business had been affected because of the higher taxes.
If the government doesn’t accept our demands, we will stage protests across the country, he warned.
Special Assistant to PM Firdous Ashiq Awan said that traders are crucial for the economy and their issues will be resolved on immediate basis.