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Karachi's business community, which is reportedly compelled to pay Rs 15 million to extortionists every day, has said that this form of "double taxation" has to end. The chairman of the All Karachi Tajir Ittehad, Atiq Mir, said the traders would start submitting "extortion slips" along with their official tax returns to the Federal Board of Revenue and then use them to claim a deduction on their income taxes, reports The Express Tribune. "If the situation is not brought under control by September 2013, then we will start deducting the extortion we pay from our income taxes. We will adjust our tax returns accordingly if the government does not allow us address the issue," said Mir. Mir said Ramazan was especially hard on the business community this year, as it paid two rupees in extortion for every rupee it owed the government in taxes in the month. Mir added that over 30,000 traders had been forced to move their businesses outside the city due to the menace of extortion, and that the number could reach 50,000 by the end of the year if the government fails to address the problem. Cell phones play a significant role in facilitating extortionists and other criminals, in which criminals coerce people to use e-banking and cell phone credit transfer facilities to pay them. "Law enforcement agencies should spend some time and scrutinise records, and then block those SIM cards that are being used for nefarious purposes like kidnapping for ransom or extorting money," said Mir.

Karachi traders to submit 'extortion slips' along with income tax