RAWALPINDI: The Sarafa and Jewellers Association on Sunday rejected the imposition of a three per cent sales tax (ST) and the installation of machines under the point of sale (PoS) system and asked the government to withdraw the decision or face street protests.

Addressing a joint press conference of traders and the association, Rana Abdul Qadoos, Saqib Rafique, Shahid Ghafoor Paracha and Sharjeel Mir said traders had rejected the decision of the government to impose the sales tax along with the the PoS and they will start a protest campaign if the government did not withdraw it.

They said the government had formulated polices without consultation with stakeholders. It is necessary to take the business community into confidence before formulating any economic policy, they said.

They traders are facing financial crisis due to the worst state of economy and jewellers have suffered a lot, they added. They said that in the wake of rising gold prices, the traders attached with jewellery and gems sector were hardly meeting their expenses on a regular basis.

Say protest will be launched against decision taken by govt without consulting traders

They emphasised that all issues should be resolved through negotiations. There is no input of gold and jewellers only charged the cost of redesigning and polishing gold and gems/precious stones.

They said the traders want to pay taxes but the FBR didn’t want to collect taxes. The jewellers asked the FBR to stop harassing them.

“If the unwarranted actions did not stop, the situation will get worse so the responsibility will rest upon the government.”

Mohammad Fayaz Qureshi, President Gems and Jewellers Association, said that the government made policies without taking the stakeholders into confidence.

“We talk about revenue but do not believe in implementation of sales tax and point of sales. Our sector plays a key role in the economy, but due to inflation people are selling their gold items and running their houses,” he said.

Tariq Jadoon said all demands of the jewellers’ association should be fulfilled immediately. The country is already facing an economic crisis and the government should not further test the patience of the business community.

RCCI President Saqib Rafiq said there was a need to promote the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector. Point of sales is not required at every shop. All issues will be raised at the government level, he said.

Rawalpindi Traders Association President Shahid Ghafoor Paracha said: “We were helping the government to prevent the country from further economic crisis. We demanded THE federal government to issue an order to the FBR to negotiate on our demands.”

He said if the issues WEre not resolved, there will be a nationwide protest. The FBR should stop sending notices until holding negotiations otherwise traders will surround the FBR offices and staged a sit-in.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2023