LAHORE: Speakers at a seminar have accused the present regime of ‘strangulating’ the traders economically by introducing ‘controversial’ and ‘unfair’ measures such as Point of Sale (POS) machines, which they believe is another way of double taxation.

The Pakistan Business Forum (PBF) arranged the seminar titled “Point of Sale (POS) and issues of small traders” in collaboration with the All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajiran (APAT).

PBF president Muhammad Ejaz Tanveer said that the traders are against the government’s decision of collecting tax on the basis of the size of their business establishment(s) and installing POS system, which, he said, was another way to charge double tax.

“The government is (economically) strangulating the businessmen who are already hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said, adding that they believe in resolving issues through dialog but warned that if the government turned deaf ear to their demands then they would take to the streets.

The PBF and APAT leadership would stay united until the government addresses the issues of manufacturers, importers, retailers, distributors and wholesale dealers.

APAT central general secretary Naeem Mir said that the traders would not allow the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials to install POS at their business places.

“When the trader purchases goods, he pays all the taxes at that time, and collecting further taxes from them through POS machines is illegal,” he said, adding that the registration of business places for sales tax on the basis of the area is discriminatory.

The system of turnover tax is itself faulty, Mir said, adding that the income tax should be collected through a profit and loss account instead of the turnover tax.

The presidents and leaders of major retail and wholesale markets also participated in the seminar and expressed their views on the occasion.