PMLN blames PPP for imposition of withholding tax, as protests hit Gilgit-Baltistan
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Gilgit, September 9: The Pakistan Muslim League (N) in Gilgit-Baltistan has blamed PPP govt for imposition of withholding tax in the Gilgit-Baltistan region. PMLN’s media wing has shared with the media some ‘documentary evidence’ to establish that the decision to impose withholding tax in the GB region was the work of the previous government.
The document shared with the press shows that Raja Pervez Ashraf, the then PM of Pakistan, had extended the Pakistan Income Tax Ordinance 2001 to Gilgit-Baltistan, thereby paving way for imposition of income tax and withholding tax in the region.
The PMLN media wing has said that the current federal and provincial governments are discussing the issue to find a ‘better solution’
It is pertinent to note that traders in Gilgit, Skardu and other cities of Gilgit-Baltistan shut the markets down today to register their protest against the imposition of the withholding tax in the region.
The protesters are of the view that since Gilgit-Baltistan is a disputed territory and it is not represented in the constitutional bodies of Pakistan, the federal government cannot impose taxes in the region, under the globally accepted no-taxation-without-representation rule. The nationalist party, BNF, has also supported the protest drive that kept the markets shut today in Skardu and Gilgit.
I was surprised to discover that very few people pay taxes in Pakistan. This is why the Government has to borrow so much.
we will love to pay our taxes provided we are given the constitutional rights as per with fellow citizens