Expansion of the tax net remains one of the key conditions for Pakistan in order to receive the bailout from the IMF, said a source close to the Finance Ministry on the condition of anonymity. Therefore, in its move to expand the tax net, the Government in Finance Act 2022 has strived to target traders in the country who are approximately 4 million in number, but less than 1 percent of them are actively paying taxes. These measures were disclosed in finance bill before being finalised, and deliberated in detail along with all other relief measures denanded by industrial sector during budget finalisation. It is surprising that leading trade bodies are pretending ignorance. The government is determined to bring traders under the tax net in order to meet the key requirement from IMF to lock deal with it. Opposing the government’s will, Mr. Muhammad Idrees – President KCCI held a heated conference Thursday in which he said, “We have not been taken into confidence by any quarters before implementing this step. We have sought bills from the rest of the country, and this is concerning that the collection of taxes is not being done in any part of the country except in Karachi. Aftab Imam, the Chief Commissioner (FBR) Corporate Tax Office of FBR, is requested to write a letter to halt this move in Karachi, and the commissioner confirmed that the progress is being made swiftly in this regard.” Zubair Motiwala of KCCI in his press conference also confirmed that bill was as per budget plan, but applied a little bit early in Karachi. Zubair Motiwala of KCCI in his press conference also confirmed that bill was as per budget plan, but applied a little bit early in Karachi Sources privy to the information said that since the implementation of these taxes is not being done in the rest of the country, the remaining 3.6 million commercial consumers in the country will have to pay these taxes for various months collectively if the implementation by other Distribution Companies is followed in coming months instead from July as the tax collection order stands applicable immediately. If the order is implemented late, the burden of tax collection will become massive and will prove to be detrimental to the business community, which is already facing a hike in the price of electricity following a surge in international fuel prices used for power production and going through turbulent economic times. Meanwhile KE expressed solidarity with the retailers, “The business community is very dear to us, and we firmly stand with them. These taxes were announced in the federal budget by the Government of Pakistan for the entire country, and all power distribution companies are bound to implement them. We would like to reiterate that K-Electric does not receive any benefit from the taxes on the electricity bills, and we have no objection on their removal and we will extend bill cooperation to our affected brothers if FBR reduced to amend them. However, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has not objected or shared any further amendments.” No official from the government and the FBR commented on the matter.