Miftah Ismail shares plan to satisfy retailers' resistance to tax collection on electricity bills

 Sunday, July 31, 2022

     Finance Minister Miftah Ismail was addressing a press conference regarding the Pakistan Economic       Survey. — AFP/File

1. After Finance Minister Miftah Ismail shared his plan with Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz asked him to resolve the matter.
2. The finance minister says the government will "exempt shops with less than 150 unit bill" to address the concerns of small retailers.
3. He says that the government will also collect Rs 3000 from the shopkeepers who are not registered with FBR.

Following the opposition of traders regarding collection of tax through electricity bills and requests from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail announced some measures to appease small retailers. What did

"The Prime Minister has also called me and directed me to ensure that the small traders are fully satisfied with the new tax law. This I will do tomorrow," the minister tweeted.

The finance minister said the government would "exempt shops with a bill of less than 150 units from tax" to address the concerns of small retailers.

"We will also collect Rs 3,000 from the shopkeepers who are not registered with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). The tax paid will be full and final. No tax notice will be issued to the shopkeepers and neither will the FBR. Officers will visit their shops," the finance minister tweeted.

Ismail was responding to a tweet by PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif who had asked him to "withdraw tax on electricity bill" as the businessmen were worried and complaining.

Soon after the tweet, Maryam said that she had spoken to the finance minister who had assured him that he would sit with the traders tomorrow (Monday) and find a solution.

Small retailers are not concerned about their electricity bills

In the current fiscal year's budget, the government had decided to deduct tax through electricity bills from small shopkeepers or retailers across the country to bring this sector into the tax net.

In order to bring small retailers into the tax net, fixed income and sales tax regimes of Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000 have been introduced in the budget document.

Hoover, merchants across the country protested and refused to pay taxes.

Earlier this week, All Pakistan Anjuman Tajran and Traders Action Committee Islamabad rejected the fixed sales tax on electricity bills and demanded its withdrawal.

Ajmal Baloch, president of All Pakistan Anjuman Tajran and Tajran Action Committee Islamabad, in a press conference with officials of all markets in the federal capital on Thursday demanded Ismail's removal and said: "There is no fixed electricity bills." The sales tax will be paid and if WAPDA or any power supply company tries to remove the electricity meters, the traders will start a protest movement.

Income tax on non-filers was to be levied from Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000 per annum, he said in the budget document, while the Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs) made it monthly instead of yearly, a bad thing from the finance minister.

Baloch Syed Ismail "was a floor of the Leeds Assembly who should not be removed from office but should be smeared".