HYDERABAD: President Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Adeel Siddiqui has urged Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail to immediately withdraw decision for recovery of fixed retailer tax through electricity bills from unregistered small shopkeepers.

In a statement issued here on Tuesday, he termed such recovery from small shopkeepers as great injustice. He drew attention of the minister that this fixed retailer tax was meant for unregistered traders whereas registered traders were paying income and sales taxes annually.

He said fix retail tax was a good planning but the way it was introduced was questionable.

He said warehouses of taxpayer businessmen were receiving bills along with fixed retailer tax and this falls in category of double taxation. He said that even closed warehouses and shops were being required to pay the tax which was totally unfair. He said it had caused unrest among the traders.

Adeel said that this tax was in electricity bills of June whereas fiscal year commences from July.

He said that as per federal budget 2022-23, small shopkeepers would be required to pay this fixed retailer tax from July 1 through their electricity bills every month. He said reason for this recovery was that commercial power consumers. For instance, he said Rs 3,000 would be payable on a bill of Rs 30,000 and Rs 5,000 on Rs 50,000 electricity bill. He said that Rs 10,000 fixed tax would be recovered on a bill over and above Rs 50,000 per month.

He added that inactive tax defaulters would be recovered to pay double the amount of tax which ranged from Rs 36,000 to Rs 120,000 annually. He said it was a complex issue for small shopkeeper and percentage of tax was very high.

He called for a broader consultation with the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and business community representatives to lessen the percentage of taxation and fixed retailer tax should be recovered annually.

He said procedure of recovery should also be changed. He said that higher rates of electricity, gas and petroleum products have undermined small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and their closure would lead to massive unemployment.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022