Traders to protest ‘unjustified’ property tax

MANSEHRA: The traders in Shinkiari on Tuesday announced not to pay property tax, saying they would observe a complete shutter down strike if the government didn’t take back the ‘unjustified’ levy.

“The Excise and Taxation Department must stop harassing traders in the name of property tax or else we will observe a complete shutter down strike,” Ahsan Allai, the president of the traders’ body, told a meeting in Shinkiari.

The meeting, which was attended by the property owners and traders, decided not to pay property tax as they said the business community was already paying multiple taxes to both federal and provincial governments.

Ahsan Allai said that the Excise and Taxation Department had served traders and business centres with notices, which were unjustified and meant to harass them.Speaking on the occasion, Jehanzeb Khan Swati said that both the federal and provincial governments were targeting those who were already paying direct and indirect taxes.