WHT on bank transactions: traders hailed for staging successful strike

The Progressive Group in the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has congratulated the traders and business community for staging a successful shutter down strike across the country to press the government for withdrawal of 0.3 percent withholding tax imposed on all banking transactions.
Progressive Group's President Khalid Usman, Deputy Secretary Muhammad Ejaz Tanveer and Abdul Wadood Alvi, incharge election campaign Associate Class in a statement hoped that the same spirit will be shown on August 05, and till the acceptance of their demands. The government should have consulted the true representatives of the traders and businessmen prior to imposing such indirect taxes which are aimed at just to embarrass the businesses and nothing else.
They said no businessman is against paying taxes and government instead of burdening the existing taxpayers should expand the tax base by bringing those in to the net who are not paying it. "This kind of indirect tax will have a multiplied impact on the transactions. It is hampering the banking transactions and using formal money transactions channels," they added.
They said this tax would not only decrease economic activity but also encourage people to handle all their transactions in cash to avoid taxes. "It will also hamper the government efforts of expanding the tax net," they added. They also criticised the chambers and those trader leaders who had betrayed the traders in this strike and said that now business circles should understand who stand with them in their hour of need and who keep mum for their vested interests.
They said this tax which would discourage use of banking channels also hamper the business of largest service sector ie banking sector thus leading to loss of revenue to the national exchequer which is collected on banking services. They said the government should understand that protests and strikes always hit the economy hard and that this tax should be dropped in the larger interest of the economy. They said their group was with all the trade and industrial associations against this imposition of tax on bank transactions.