PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) waged a second day of strike against the recently implemented withholding tax on Friday, when hundreds of mills nationwide remained closed, halting the delivery of flour and processing wheat, raising concerns about a possible shortage.
The budget for the current fiscal year included a 5.5% withholding tax imposed by the federal government on various levels of the supply chain of staple foods, which increased the cost of the product, according to the PFMA leaders.
The closure of flour mills in Toba Tek Singh, Jhelum, Kamalia, Sargodha, Bahawalpur, and Bahawalnagar has resulted in the cessation of the provision of staple foods in these cities.
Senior Vice Chairman of the PFMA Peshawar Division Shahzad Qureshi stated in an interview with News that the strike will go on.
“The crushing has been stopped due to an increase in tax on flour and wheat,” Qureshi stated.
In addition to calling for the removal of checkpoints for the delivery of wheat, he urged that the ban on the importation of wheat and flour from Punjab be abolished.
PFMA requests that withholding taxes be removed.
Amidst this, PFMA Chairman Asim Raza stated during a News show called “Geo Pakistan” that the flour mills have not been subjected to any taxes, but the government has appointed them as withholding agents.
“We ought to retain and deposit the money that we get from the merchants to whom we sell the good into the public exchequer.
