Gilgit-Baltistan traders end months-long protest at China border as Pakistan grants tax relief
ISLAMABAD: Traders in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) announced ending a two-month-long protest near the country’s border with China on Wednesday, after the federal government accepted their demands and announced significant tax exemptions for the region’s residents.
GB’s importers, exporters, small traders, customs clearing agents and members of the area’s local chamber of commerce launched a sit-in protest in late July at the Sost dry port. Protesters demanded the government exempt traders from taxes as the semi-autonomous region was a “non-tariff” area and therefore should be exempt from sales and income taxes.
The protest had brought trade between Pakistan and China via the northern Khunjerab Pass to a halt, with the movement of people also adversely affected. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a committee on Aug. 17, headed by Energy Minister Sardar Awais Leghari, to resolve the crisis.
Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial explained at a news conference that previously, duties and consumption taxes used to be collected from GB traders at the Sost port near the border with China.
