AFTER failure of their talks with the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR), traders have announced to observe a countrywide shutter-down strike on October 28 and 29 as a mark of protest against tax reforms. They are adamant not to accept the condition to submit copy of computerized identity card on sale and purchase of more than Rs. 50,000 and refuse to get themselves registered with the FBR.
Like before, the trading community seems to be in no mood to cooperate in the efforts of the Government for documentation of the economy and make all segments of the population pay their due taxes. Protests are being held to force the Government to review its policy and seek continued exemption from payment of taxes on real income. There are reasons to believe that an ordinary shopkeeper earns much more than majority of civil servants but is not willing to either register himself with the taxation department or pay the due taxes. This is despite the fact that the burden of sales tax is ultimately put on the end consumer and all other trading chains are required to deposit the amount honestly with the Government. As for income tax, there is absolutely no justification not to pay taxes when you earn and earn more than those who are already paying their taxes regularly and honestly since long. Genuine problems and grievances of businessmen must be addressed in a satisfactory manner but documentation of the economy is not a conspiracy as they believe; rather it is a sincere attempt to rectify ills of the past. There is dire need to enhance revenue collection to break the begging bowl and if influential segments of the society do not pay taxes then obviously the burden will be added to the existing tax payers, which is not fair. This culture needs to be changed and every citizen will have to inculcate the habit of paying taxes honestly and willingly so that the country is able to raise its head with dignity and honour in the comity of nations. Therefore, we must shun the tendency of resorting to pressure tactics like shutter down and wheel jam as these not only harm the individuals but also the national economy. The economy is already in bad shape and that is why the authorities concerned especially Chairman FBR Shabbar Zaidi are trying their level best to cure the malaise. They have no personal interest or agenda to pursue and their policies and actions should be understood in the overall context of the economic and fiscal conditions. Who knows better than businessmen the impact of strikes, wheel jams and other similar disruptions on the economic activity and therefore, they must not resort to such tactics. Incidentally, there would be a day of solidarity with Kashmiris on October 27 while Maulana Fazlur Rehman has revised the date of March on Islamabad to October 31, which means there are going to be events and developments in the last week of the month that would negatively affect the economy. It is also relevant to point out that Pakistan slipped by three spots on the Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), ranking 110 out of 141 countries, which should be a source of concern for every Pakistani. But there are positive signs as well as reflected by the optimistic remarks made by State Bank Governor Dr. Reza Baqir on Wednesday that reforms introduced to address macro-economic challenges have started bearing fruit and an improvement in external sector has become visible. His expectation that macroeconomic stability would promote investment in the country and trigger growth might not materialize if there are serious disruptions in the economic and business activities. We believe that instead of adopting the self-destructive path of confrontation, traders and industrialists should enter into serious dialogue with the authorities concerned and put forward workable proposals to increase revenue generation and resolve the bottlenecks that hinder growth of their businesses. They deserve to be listened when they talk about the need for ease of doing business and making our industry more competitive in the world but there is hardly any justification to object to tax payment.
