The traders were successful in striking across the country because of the fear of the taxman. The traders overtly have struck because of the electricity bills, especially their use as tax collection devices. However, everyone knows that the real strike is against the Tajir Dost Scheme, by which they are to be brought in the tax net. This is seen as a betrayal on so many levels, one of which is that the traders feel they have been sold down the river by one of their own, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is not merely the scion of a business family, but cut his teeth in politics as President of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Yet from his beginning as an advocate for the business community, he has become head of a government which has promised the3 International Monetary Fund that it will increase the number of taxpapers.
The government has got two prongs, both of which have made the traders feel uncomfortable. First is the sales tax regime, whereby retailers would charge the consumer the sales tax, and while they would obtain refunds for sales tax already paid on the goods they sell, it would reveal their actual turnover. This would lead to them having to pay income tax. The result should be that government revenues go up, but it has appeared time and again that traders have an iron prejudice against paying taxes. They always blame a reluctance to deal with the taxmen as a reason, because the taxation machinery of the Federal Board of Revenue is thoroughly corrupt. There is no denying that tax collectors are corrupt. However, it should not be forgotten that they have a partner in their crime, the businessman. It cannot be stressed too much that businessmen show the way to taxmen for corruption.
Businessmen should realize that the issue of expanding the tax net has gone beyond a fairness issue. It is now something the government needs because it cannot get any more loans unless it stops being complicit. The strike is thus not against impositions by an iniquitous government, but about the desire of the business community to maintain the conspiracy of silence which has led to the government having such low revenue. After all, if everyone had paid his fair whack, the country’s finances would probably not be in the mess they are in.
