KARACHI: The Anjuman-e-Tajiran Sindh has approached the Sindh High Court against the levying of retail sales tax through electricity bills.

The petition filed by Anjuman-e-Tajiran Sindh President Javed Shams will be heard tomorrow. It stated the implementation of sales tax included in the federal budget 2022-23. It said taxes were not applicable on small traders and was completely illegal.

The counsel for the petitioner stated that the taxes has been imposed in this month’s electricity bills. He said the court should hear the case on urgent basis. He said the Finance Bill 2022 states that sales tax will be collected from traders on electricity usage.

Earlier, the All Pakistan City Traders Association termed the government’s ruling of implementation of the fixed tax on retailers as a ‘cruel’ act in current challenging economic times.

The businessmen and traders denied complying with the newly imposed tax regime and have announced a nationwide level protest against the decision.

Chairman All City Traders Association Sharjeel Goplani accused the Government of Pakistan and Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) of further destroying Pakistan’s economy already in a detrimental condition.

He urged the government to roll back its decision to implement the new taxes regime on retailers. He further suggested that the government and FBR should take taxes from the retailers based on the area and volume of business.

Goplani further demanded a meager amount between Rs500 to R 2000 from non-filers. He demanded that at least 40% of the total tax collected from a certain locality must be spent on health, education and employment generation initiatives in the area.

He warned that in case the government does not concede on changes announced in utility bills for the month of July, the traders will have no option but to default on their electricity bills.

He announced that a countrywide shutterdown strike will be called and a tougher stance will be taken against the government and the FBR.

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