<p style="text-align: justify;">HERAT CITY (Pajhwok): Shopkeepers in western Herat province complain they are obliged to pay high taxes despite decreased sales.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">However, the Revenue Department says taxes from shops are collected based on criteria set by the government.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The shopkeepers say the government takes heavy taxes from them without considering their income.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">According to shopkeepers, despite their low sales, they are forced to pay heavy taxes to the Revenue Department and the municipality; otherwise their shops will be closed.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Basir Ahmad, a garment seller in Herat City, told Pajhwok Afghan News that people’s interest in buying clothes had decreased due to economic problems and as a result their sales had halved.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He added there was no work and it was also difficult to go abroad to find work. According to him, he even barely earned the rent of his shop.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Wahid, another shopkeeper, confirmed Basir’s statement and said currently most shopkeepers could not afford to pay taxes.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He added the tax was not calculated based on their income as before and the government collected more tax from them than their income.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">According to him, paying taxes is one of the main duties of traders and shopkeepers under the law, but the provincial administration must select a professional committee that determines the market situation first and then collects taxes accordingly.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">These shopkeepers asked the officials concerned to pay serious attention to their low income.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">HamayunTokhi, head of the revenue department, said tax collection was a legal process. He said taxes were levied according to the criteria set by the government on shops, services, location, sales, customer density and shop capital.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Based on his information, there are currently more than 50,000 shops and businesses in Herat city, employing more than 300,000 people.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">sa/ma</p>
