Pakistan’s traders call off their strike after striking an agreement with government

The ongoing strike by Pakistan’s traders has been called off after striking an agreement with the government on Tuesday.

All Pakistan Traders Association President Ajmal Baloch confirmed that the talks with the government went successful. He further added that a special desk would be established at the FBR Office in Islamabad to resolve the problems facing traders.

The government has agreed to defer the new condition requiring them to provide CNICs on transactions over Rs50,000 for three months at least.

After three months, the representatives of the government and traders will sit down to discuss the condition once again.

Furthermore, it has also been decided that the traders with sales of over Rs100 million will pay a turnover tax of 0.5% as opposed to 1.5%. The tax will be even less for small traders.

As being reported, the clause for the sales tax registration has been modified too. Now, the limit of the electricity bill for the registration has been increased from Rs0.6 million to Rs1.2 million.

The government has also agreed to print tax returns forms in Urdu for new registrations.

Markets and wholesale merchants across Pakistan observed a strike on Tuesday to protest the IMF-backed taxation measures to document commercial and retail activities in the country.