PESHAWAR: Gem and jewellery dealers have rejected the installation of machines at retail shops under the point of sale system and imposition of three per cent sales tax on them and urged the federal government to restore a 10-member joint committee to resolve the issues amicably.

All Pakistan Sarafa Zargaran Gems and Jewellery Traders and Exporters Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chairman Amin Hussain Babar told reporters here that officials of the Federal Board of Revenue harassed traders, so things could turn ugly anytime.

Accompanied by trader leaders Haji Mohammad Iqbal and Haroonur Rashid, Mr Babar said the dealers of gems and jewellerywere struggling to do business in the current economic crisis, so they couldn’t pay unnecessary taxes.

He said the FBR had begun sending notices to traders besides planning to tax them on the basis of shop size. “We won’t accept such measures as they’re meant for our economic murder,” he said.

He and other traders urged the federal government and FBR to stop issuance of such notices to traders, harassing them, and carrying out unnecessary raids at their business points.

They feared that such raids would lead to unpleasant incidents. The gem dealers suggested resolution of all issues by dialogue.

They said amid the rising gold prices, gems and jewellerydealers hardly fulfilled their expenses.

The gem dealers said 32,000 gold dealers as well as many more were associated with the sector, so new taxes threatened their livelihood.

They said former federal finance minister Miftah Ismail had formed a 10-member joint committee to sit down with the FBR officials to resolve issues, but the body had yet to become functional.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2023