Tax unrest

THE call for a nationwide strike on July 19 by leading trade associations against tax enforcement and compliance measures introduced in the FY26 budget highlights strong resistance from the trading class to become part of the documented economy and pay their due. The call is backed by major chambers of commerce and industry, as well as other leading trade bodies. For what it’s worth, the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry too has threatened to join the protest unless the government revokes what its leaders have termed ‘anti-business budgetary measures’. The opposition to the new measures cuts across the political divide among traders, underlining a wider consensus against documentation. The contested provisions of the budget include powers of FBR officials to arrest taxpayers on allegations of fraud, depute taxmen at factory premises to check evasion, implement digital invoicing and e-billing, and penalise the use of cash for over Rs200,000 worth of business transactions, and other similar steps the government has taken to discourage the use of cash in transactions and check tax fraud.