ACCI warns nationwide protests against octroi (video)

KABUL (PAN): The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) chief on Sunday warned the trader body would resort to countrywide protests until a municipal tax charged at the entry points to cities, including Kabul, is abolished.

Last month, the Cabinet said businessmen should pay the octroi to the municipality concerned if the goods were to be unloaded in the same city, reserving its last year’s decision that municipalities would no longer realise the tax known as octroi.

“This decision will not only pave the ground for more corruption but also send the prices of daily use commodities soaring for the poverty-stricken masses,” said ACCI Mohammad Qurban Haqju.

He told a press conference in Kabul that traders were ready to pay the tax, but through a transparent system and not at the entry gates.

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