For the first time in Sudan, the most famous commercial markets are closed in protest against high taxes

Thousands of merchants in Sudan did not find a way but to close their shops to protest the exorbitant taxes imposed on them by the authorities, at a rate of 1,000%, in light of a prolonged depression caused by the difficult economic conditions in the country.

For the first time in the country’s history, the most famous and most important markets are completely paralyzed after merchants found themselves in front of astronomical sums that the tax authority obliged them to pay, without being able to meet them.

On Sunday and last Monday, 1260 stores were closed in Damazin market in the Blue Nile region (south), after the Tax Office added 10% as a profit value for one commodity with an increase in the tax rate to 30% instead of 10. The two values ​​contribute to the increase in taxes in large numbers, without taking into account the stagnation, obligations and inflation, which raised the value of the commodity in exchange for the stability of profits, the increase in expenses and the erosion of capital.

A statement by the Steering Committee of Damazin Dealers stated that it had reached a dead end with the Tax Office on the pretext that the 30% increase is a sovereign matter, and it was left to it only to use its legitimate right to strike, “although it is harmful to the merchants and accumulates their obligations, but there is no other way, and the merchants strike for citizens because the increase in taxes followed by an increase in prices from the supplier to the retailer.

The closure of markets extended to the west of the country with the strike of traders in the city of El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State, where the largest market for gum arabic and crops in the country.

An informed source in the Tax Office says that the anger of the merchants and the wave of market closures in a number of cities does not seem justified, given that an agreement took place in 2019 between the Tax Authority and all chambers of commerce, to raise the business profit tax from 15 to 30% to be applied in 2020.

The application has been postponed due to the circumstances related to the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, and it confirms that the Tax Office is working through the appeal committees to consider the grievance cases and exempt many of them according to the documents.