From the time of implementation of the sales tax system in 1950, traders from all states from Punjab to Delhi and Delhi to U.P. and U.P. to Mumbai protested against it. Lala Bihari Lal Chanana in Punjab and all business organizations in Delhi staged fierce protests against it. As a result, during the time of the then Prime Minister Shri Jawaharlal Nehru and Home Minister Shri Govind Vallabh Pant, sales tax on cloth, tobacco and sugar was removed and a system of additional excise duty was started and assurance was given to extend this system on other goods in the future. But due to the laxity of the traders, other businesses did not get any relief. In 1978, once again the demand for abolition of sales tax was raised and All India Sales Tax Abolition Committee was formed at the national level. In which Lala Bishambar Dayal ji participated enthusiastically and more than five thousand traders from all the states in Delhi took out a big rally from Red Fort to Ramlila Maidan. In 1981, on the initiative of Lala Bishambar Dayal, Federation of All India Traders Association was formed. Its President was late Shri Bhikuram ji Jain and Lala Bishambar Dayal was the Vice President. Shri Shyam Bihari Mishra started taking interest at the national level from 1981 to 1994-95. In 1995, the name of the Federation was formally changed to Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal and Shyam Bihari Mishra became its President, Shri Vijay Prakash Jain Vice President and Shri Rajendra Pratap Singh Chandel Treasurer. In 1991, the Indian economy was going through a major crisis, at the same time Dr. Manmohan Singh took charge as the finance minister and started the process of globalization in India, as a result of which the VAT process was discussed. In 1999, during the tenure of the then Finance Minister Shri Yashwant Sinha, an authoritative committee of Finance Ministers was formed and Dr. Asim Das Gupta was appointed Chairman of this committee. In October 1999, at the Delhi Secretariat, Mr. Yashwant Sinha and Dr. Asim Das Gupta presented the rough outline of the VAT system to the industry and trade world. After reading this, Mr. Shyam Bihari Mishra ji became suspicious. As Mr. Mishra studied the VAT system, he spontaneously said that VAT will prove to be a noose for the traders. The government held several meetings of the finance minister of the state under the leadership of Dr. Asim Das Gupta. On one hand, Mr. Mishra presented the problems arising due to the VAT system to the government and on the other hand, he went to every corner of the country and held discussions with traders from all over the country and opened the VAT system. Shyam Bihari Mishra ji predicted that due to the VAT system, inflation and corruption will bite the country like a wildfire. To break the stubbornness of the government, fierce protests and 48-72 hours business shutdowns were also held across the country. In April 2003, traders from all over the country held an unprecedented rally at Ramlila Ground and gheraoed the Parliament. The news reached the then Prime Minister and Mishra told Atal Ji that the picture of the proposed VAT system is similar to the picture of Shurpanakha in which there is no scope for improvement. Shri Atal Ji liked the idea and said that his government will not impose VAT in the country until the traders are ready. In 2004, the UPA government came to power and VAT was imposed in their states in 2004 and 05, whereas in BJP ruled states, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, VAT was postponed due to the fierce opposition of the trader leader Shri Shyam Bihari Mishra and in 2008, the VAT system was implemented in the rest of the states as well. In the meantime, while providing leadership to Shri Shyam Bihari Mishra Ji, he made full efforts to make the VAT system as simple and transparent as possible.

He did extensive relief work during the attacks on Sikhs in 1984. He saved the lives of two Sikhs and took them to a safe place. The personality and work of Shri Shyam Bihari Mishra is extremely vast and extensive. It is impossible to put it in few words. The struggle done for the traders and the welfare work done in his parliamentary constituency has given him respectable fame in the entire country along with Uttar Pradesh. With the strength of his struggling personality, efficient organization capacity and intelligence, he laid the foundation of traders' organizations in Uttar Pradesh and at the national level and provided them leadership in a very good manner and took them to great heights.