Electricity bills taxation: Miftah addresses business community concerns

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail on Monday assured the business community that their issues regarding taxation on electricity bills would be resolved.

The development came during a meeting between Miftah Ismail and a delegation of Markazi Tanzeem-e-Tajaran Pakistan, headed by its President Muhammad Kashif Chaudary, at the Finance Division today.

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On Sunday, Miftah in a tweet said that he would meet the business community to address their concerns. “The Prime Minister has also called me and instructed me to ensure that small traders are completely satisfied with the new tax law,” Ismail tweeted.

He said that in order to satisfy small traders the government will exempt shops with bills of less than 150 units from this tax.

It will charge Rs3,000 even to those shopkeepers who are not registered with FBR and no tax notice will be issued to shops nor will FBR officers visit their shops, he said.

A new fixed income and sales tax system was proposed for small retailers. In the budget 2022–23, the incumbent coalition government announced to collect the fixed income and sales tax along with electricity bills. According to Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, this tax will be between Rs3,000 to Rs10,000.

Meanwhile, Kashif Chaudary said that the business community plays a significantly role in the economic development of the country.

Ismail acknowledged this and said the government will take every required step to facilitate and support the community.

Earlier, the business community rejected collection of ‘fixed tax’ through electricity bills and demanded of the federal government to withdraw it forthwith.

Hasnain Khurshid Ahmad, president Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry while chairing a meeting of local traders’ at the chamber’s house said the government has collected sales tax from Rs3,000 up to Rs20,000 through electricity bills, which couldn’t be acceptable to them.

Without differentiating between small and large-scale businesses, and godowns, the forced system of ‘fixed’ sale tax on commercial power meters was reflection of the government’s anti-business policies and tantamount to economic-murder of traders’ community, Khurshid said.

Last week, rejecting the collection of ‘fixed tax’ through power bills, local traders in Peshawar said the incumbent coalition government should withdraw its decision forthwith, otherwise they would besiege building of Wapda house and observe a ‘shutter-down’ strike across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.