Ministry of Finance rejects tax hike claims as baseless

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Ministry of Finance has rejected as baseless some shopkeepers’ complaints about increase in taxes and said no increase has been made in taxes after the Islamic Emirate’s return to power.

The Ministry of Finance yesterday published a statement on its Twitter page and wrote that some shopkeepers in Kabul and province were complaining that taxes had been increased on them after the Islamic Emirate’s return.

“The Ministry of Finance strongly rejects these tax hike claims,” the ministry wrote, adding that taxes had not been increased rather the tax on sales had been reduced to 0.5 percent from 1.5 percent and all financial penalties had also been waived off.

The Ministry of Finance cited two reasons why some shop owners were complaining. First, some shops were not registered in the past and they paid no taxes, but now they have been registered and a fixed amount of tax is collected from them.

Secondly, in the past taxes were not collected from some people in full due to corruption, but now all taxpayers paid their taxes in a transparent manner.

The ministry said no taxes have been increased on goods and taxes on goods were collected regularly and in a transparent manner by professional workers and handed over to the national kitty.

“If a taxpayer has a complaint, he can approach the General Department of Revenue or contact 1000 number of taxpayer services.”

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