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Jewellers across Pakistan observed a nationwide strike, shutting down businesses in major cities, including Karachi, in protest against what traders described as excessive taxation, harassment, and corruption within the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), as reported by The Express Tribune.
According to The Express Tribune, large numbers of jewellery traders gathered in Karachi to voice their concerns, where prominent trader leader Qasim Shikarpuri accused tax authorities of imposing unfair demands on the industry. Addressing protesters, he said discussions with government officials in Islamabad have failed to resolve the issue. He alleged that while jewellers were willing to pay legal taxes, they were being pressured to pay hefty bribes by FBR officials. Shikarpuri claimed that tax authorities had transformed into an "extortion network," alleging that jewellers in Peshawar alone were being asked to pay hundreds of millions of rupees. He strongly criticised what he termed discriminatory tax regulations and rejected recent tax measures, including a reported 600 per cent increase in tax demands linked to the sector. Representatives of the jewellery industry stated that the sector already contributes around Rs22 billion annually in taxes and had offered to double that amount to Rs44 billion. However, they insisted that they would not accept what they called unjustified financial burdens. Protest leaders stated that if negotiations fail, a broader nationwide shutdown could be announced within days. Commodity experts observed that gold had rebounded after recent declines and was approaching key resistance levels. Analysts suggested that a sustained move above current price thresholds could trigger further gains in the precious metal, while failure to break higher could lead to another period of downward pressure, as reported by The Express Tribune. (ANI)
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