KHYBER
Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) has started collecting tax from local taxi stands as the implementation of the federal government’s decision to bring the merged districts under the tax net from July 1 has officially begun in Landi Kotal.
It is worth mentioning here that the government of Pakistan exempted the merged tribal districts and Malakand division from federal taxes for five years with effect from June1, 20218,following their merger into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The move sparked opposition from taxi stand owners and local political leaders, who argued that the government was imposing taxes without first providing basic services and economic relief.
According to TMA officials, a daily tax of Rs 20 per vehicle was now being collected from approximately 10 taxi stands operating in different parts of Landi Kotal Bazaar.
They admitted that some stand owners initially resisted the collection but said with time the people would become accustomed to pay tax. “We had started implementing the government’s policy and any taxi stand owner who refused to pay the prescribed tax would face legal action in accordance with the law,” the Tehsil Municipal Officer (TMO) said.
As part of the same policy, commercial banks in Landi Kotal have also begun deducting applicable taxes from account holders from July 1, bringing the region in line with the rest of the country.
An official of Askari Bank, Landi Kotal branch said that on the direction of the State Bank of Pakistan, they started deducting withholding tax of 0.8 from non-filers.
Taxi stand owners, however, rejected the tax collection, insisting that the facilities were established through their own resources on private property.
“We built these taxi stands ourselves, installed sheds, arranged drinking water, and managed other facilities without any support from the authorities.
It is unfair for the TMA to collect taxes without providing any services,” said Ali Sher, owner of the Shiekhmal Khel taxi stand. “The government should first deliver public facilities and then ask us to pay taxes.”
Political Alliance Landi Kotal President Murad Hussain Afridi also criticized the tax policy, saying the merged districts had remained deprived of development for more than seven decades and had suffered further economic devastation due to nearly two decades of militancy and lawlessness.
“Imposing taxes under the current circumstances is equivalent to depriving people of their right to earn a living,” Afridi said.
He maintained that “the Torkham border is the main source of livelihood for local residents, but it has remained closed for the past nine months, leaving thousands of families without income.”
He urged the federal government to materialize promises made with them at the time of merge, prioritize the restoration of trade, employment opportunities, and basic public services before enforcing taxes in the merged districts, arguing that sustainable economic recovery should lead to any new taxation measures.
