KHARTOUM -

Thousands of merchants in Sudan found no other 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), in refusal to tax estimates that the merchant Muhammad Abdullah said were unrealistic, 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 that raised the value of the commodity in exchange for the stability of profits, the increase in expenses and the erosion of capital.

Abdullah tells Al Jazeera Net that the tax law does not allow the appeal except by paying a part of the amount without confirming the approval of the review or reducing the amount, expecting that these procedures will contribute to large losses that push dozens of traders to exit the market.

A statement by the Steering Committee for 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 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 strike of traders is for citizens because the increase in taxes followed by an increase in prices from the supplier to the retailer.

Faw traders closed the markets on Tuesday and Wednesday, intending to carry out a protest pause Thursday to put pressure on the Tax Office (Al-Jazeera)

The start of the strike

In the state of Sennar (central), it was the beginning of the closure of the markets, as nearly two thousand stores carried out the first steps of the strike in refusal of the high tax, with a comprehensive closure of markets and stores for several days, before the strike was lifted in the hope of reaching an agreement with the Tax Office, which promised to address the problems.

But the merchant, Hajo Abdel Karim, tells Al Jazeera Net that the treatments promised by tax officials in Sennar are not on the horizon, which will prompt them to repeat the strike soon due to the inability to pay the required amounts, noting that some have received claims of more than 14 million pounds, while they did not exceed Last year, two million pounds (a dollar equals 574 pounds).

In Gedaref State (east), the tax authorities are sticking to the fees imposed on merchants who announced the comprehensive closure earlier this week, for two days, after tax increases ranged between 600% and 1000% compared to previous years, in which the increases did not exceed 15%.

Gedaref public and subsidiary markets are of great economic importance, as it includes the agricultural crop market, and is an important commercial center because the state is on the border with Ethiopia, and is known for its abundant production of sesame and corn crops.

The steering committee of Gedaref traders is considering entering into the second open strike, this time handing over trade licenses and closing the markets again.

According to committee member Kamal Ibrahim Al-Amir, they decided to go on strike and return to closing the markets after the tax administration stuck to the imposed fees, and he told Al Jazeera Net that more than 1,200 stores and 3,000 merchants from Gedaref will return to the complete closure during the next two days.

The prince said that the tax authorities imposed the summary estimates without regard to the reality of the security turmoil, and the protests that had their effects on the conditions of merchants, which prevented them from paying the amounts.

He also mentioned that the tax inspectors were previously familiar with the commercial activity in the field through their tours of the markets, and then taxes and estimates are imposed, the opposite of what happened this year.

A broad response to calls to close the main market in FAO, eastern Sudan, in protest against the high taxes (Al-Jazeera)

Closing markets and shrinking companies

The chief exporter and head of the Crop Dealers Division in Gedaref State, Asaad Al-Dhao, reveals that the companies operating in the agricultural and grain markets exchange have shrunk from 160 to only 65, after imposing a 13% tax on value-added.

Not far from Gedaref, Faw traders closed the markets on Tuesday and Wednesday, and announced their intention to carry out a protest stop Thursday to pressure the Tax Office after reaching a compromise that ensures the flow of sales in the market without harming the merchants. times, but their demands fell on deaf ears.

In the Tambul market adjacent to Khartoum, hundreds of merchants closed their shops to protest against the high taxes amid fears that the commercial movement would be affected by the strike, especially since this market serves the region from the south of the East Nile region in the capital, Khartoum, and even near Madani, the capital of Gezira state, and extends eastward within Butana to the borders of the state The island with Gedaref, which is the most important commercial market with more than a thousand stores, and is the most important for livestock on the island and serves part of the states of Khartoum and Gedaref in the east.

The closure of the 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 - to Al-Jazeera Net - that the anger of 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, but The application has been postponed due to the circumstances related to the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, and 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.