ALPURI: The local people and business circles in Malakand division have expressed serious concern over the delay in implementing the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s announcement to withdraw provincial taxes from the region and the failure to issue a formal notification in this regard.
The residents said that KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president Junaid Akbar Khan had announced at a jirga that provincial taxes would be abolished immediately in all districts of Malakand division. However, no official notification has been issued so far.
Following the announcement, the residents and traders in Malakand had welcomed the decision, terming it a fulfilment of a longstanding demand. However, the absence of a formal notification has increased uncertainty among the people.
They said that if the provincial government had genuinely decided to abolish the taxes, the decision should be implemented immediately through the required legal and administrative process.
Meanwhile, the imposition of various federal taxes in Malakand division through the Federal Board of Revenue has also caused concern among residents, traders and industrialists.They said that while the provincial government was announcing the withdrawal of taxes, the imposition of federal taxes was affecting business activity and adding to public uncertainty.
Malakand division has historically enjoyed a special constitutional and legal status. Following the accession of the former states of Swat, Dir and Chitral to Pakistan, the areas were granted exemptions from various federal laws and taxes.
Under the former Article 247 of the Constitution of 1973, special administrative and legal arrangements remained in place for these areas, while various presidential orders and legal provisions provided exemptions from certain federal taxes and duties.
Although Article 247 was abolished following the 25th Constitutional Amendment, legal issues concerning Malakand division’s historical tax exemptions have continued to be debated before various judicial and administrative forums.
In recent years, protests, shutter-down strikes and campaigns by traders’ organisations have been witnessed across Malakand division against the imposition of federal taxes.People’s representatives and community members have called on the KP chief minister to immediately implement his announcement and issue a formal notification abolishing provincial taxes in the division. They also urged the federal government and the FBR to adopt a clear policy while taking into account the constitutional, historical and legal status of Malakand division.
