Levy of tax: Clearing agents threaten to launch protest movement

Customs clearing agents has given one-week deadline to provincial government for withdrawal of decision for levying one percent infrastructure development cess on imported items and threatened to launch protest movement if their demand was not met. The decision of one-week time to provincial government for the withdrawal of the imposition of tax on the clearance of imported goods was taken in a meeting of Frontier Customs Agents Group (FCAG) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa held with its President Ziaul Haq Sarhadi in the chair at Peshawar Dry Port Friday.
A number of businessmen and FCAG Senior Vice President Khalid Shehzad, Vice President Imtiaz Ahmed Ali, Farooq Ahmed, Khyal Hussain, Secretary General Asif Jamal, Executive members Mian Waheed Shah, Mansoor Ahmed, Tariq Siddiqui, Asif Ali, Muhammad Asim, Muhammad Javaid, Rasool Jamal, Qadeer Afridi, Farooq Shah, Nauman-ul-Haq and Syed Kamran Shah shared views.
Later, talking to media, Sarhadi said that the customs clearing agents group had observed ten days strike from May 24 against the imposition of one percent infrastructure development cess by excise and taxation department but the strike was called off on June 2nd on assurance of provincial Minister for excise, taxation and narcotics control Mian Jamshiduddin Kakakhel to resolve the issue within two days but failed to do so.
"We have already informed the provincial government that this tax was already charged in Karachi and Punjab in trans- shipment permit before arrival of the consignments at Peshawar dry port and we are not ready to pay it again," added Sarhadi. He said that the charge of infrastructure development cess at Peshawar was dual taxation and the business community had rejected it. He said that due to faulty policies of the government traders were already facing multiple problems in exports and 70 percent of the goods of Afghan Transit Trade was shifted via Iran's Chabahar and Bandarabbas ports.
He expressed fears that the new tax would badly affect local business community and demanded early withdrawal of the infrastructure development cess to remove the unrest among the people. He said that customs clearing agents group was determined to oppose the tax and would announce schedule for strike if the provincial government failed to review its decision in one week time.