Small businesses threaten bandh on July 25 over tax notices

BENGALURU: The notices from the state government’s commercial tax department has disrupted the lives of thousands of small traders in Karnataka.

The notices, which demand a tax payment of 18 per cent GST on transactions exceeding Rs 40 lakh per annum, has sent shockwaves among small business owners, including bakery owners, condiment sellers, tea shop owners and street vendors.

The notice states that traders who have made transactions worth lakhs of rupees through Google Pay, Paytm, or PhonePe since 2021 are liable to pay taxes. Many traders are worried about how they will manage to pay such a huge amount of tax and have appealed to the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and commercial tax commissioner to withdraw the tax demand.

If the government does not withdraw the tax demand, traders have threatened that they will take part in a bandh by shutting down their businesses on July 25. They have given an ultimatum to the government, stating that if their demands are not met, they will stage a statewide strike, shutting down all shops and businesses.