Tibetan stringer Gedun Rinchen reported that Authorities in Lhasa have raised arbitrary sales tax for the merchants in Lhasa, in particular shop owners in Bharkhor area, the principal market areas. There is no fixed rate and the shop owners are forced to pay what ever the authorities demand or else close the shop. “It is as simple as that,” recent arrivals say. This tax raise policy is hurting mostly Tibetan entrepreneurs.