Pakistan International Freight Forwarders Association (PIFFA) and Air Cargo Agents Association (ACAA) Thursday announced that they are calling off their strike, following government assurance to settle the issue within a week. Talking to Business Recorder, PIFFA Chairman Asim Saeed said that the chairman FBR has commissioned a meeting with the delegation from services sector in Islamabad.
He said a committee headed by Haroon Akhtar, advisor to PM on revenue had been constituted to settle the issue. Moreover, he said that a committee comprising members from services sector & two tax consultants would evaluate the profit margin of services sector and added that Haroon had assured the services sector to settle the issue within a week. Consequently, the strike has been called off and all operations have now been resumed on the third day.
Needless to mention, all inward and outward movement of cargos from Sialkot, Lahore, Faisalabad & Karachi remained suspended for three consecutive days that led providing $390 million only in exports. The service sector went on strike against 8 percent minimum tax on turnover imposed by the government through the Finance Act, 2015. The services sector claimed that the they were operating at a very low net margin ranging between 3-4 percent of turnover however, 8 percent minimum tax will tantamount to tax at the rate of 200 percent of the profits before tax.