Govt withdraws fixed rate on traders over electricity bills

 The government on Thursday reversed it’s decision over collecting the fixed tax on the electricity bills from the traders community.

After the negotiations, it has been decided to abolish the tax on the electricity bills for this fiscal year 2022-23.

Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and Federal Minister for Power Khurram Dastagir Khan in a joint statement said that the government has withdraw from the fixed tax on the commercial bills of the power. On the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz, the government has abolished the fixed tax, the ministers said.

Khurram Dastagir said that on the traders’ community, the fix tax on commercial bills of the power will not be collected. The government will hold talks after three months to discuss the previous method of tax-collection from the traders.

It merits mention here that in the budget, the government had imposed a tax on filers and non-filers  in the form of sales tax in electricity bills, due to which the government had to face mounting pressure from the traders’ community.