PESHAWAR: Malakand Chamber of Commerce and Industry has rejected the imposition of 10 per cent sales tax in former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata) in the annual budget.

Members of the chamber said in a meeting here on Thursday that federal government failed to fulfil its promises made with the people of merged districts. Despite poor law and order conditions, the government imposed taxes in former tribal areas that would worsen issues of people, they said.

The meeting was chaired by founder president of the chamber Mohammad Shoaib Khan. MCCI president Inamullah, senior vice president Mohammad Salman Shahzad, vice president Arsalan Alam Khan and other members attended the meeting, according to a statement.

The meeting criticised the federal government’s decision to impose 10 per cent sales tax in Fata, Pata and Gilgit-Baltistan, calling it unjust and discriminatory.

MCCI members said that imposing taxes in areas that had been neglected for decades and lacked basic facilities, was tantamount to adding insult to injury. They stated that none of the promises made with the people of Pata and Fata had been fulfilled.

They demanded extension of tax exemption’s period for former Fata and Pata, emphasising that those areas had already suffered from terrorism, unrest and backwardness. They expressed reservations over federal budget 2025-26, calling it anti-people and a new economic burden on small traders, particularly in Fata and Pata.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2025