Frontier customs agents seek tax relief

Chairman, Frontier Customs Agents Group NWFP and member SCCI standing committee on Railway Dryport, Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi has demanded the government to cut down import duties and merged all kind of tax on imports into a fixed limit of the customs duty.
He made these suggestions in a press statement issued here in connections with the federal government policy of seeking of the opinion of the stakeholders before announcing next national budget.
He further suggested the bringing down of sales tax to the ratio of 10 percent and limitation of advance income tax at only 2 percent.
Sarhadi, who is also chairman of the Frontier Customs Agents Group also called for the abolition of all unnecessary restrictions on imports and collection of all import duties through one-window operation under the floor of the same building.
He said that the World Customs Organisation is also struggling for the acceptance of the invoice value and for this purpose the evidence of any customs house in the country should be accepted.
He said that the permission of the import of used vehicles should be given sans the conditionality of the transfer of resident and the facilitation of the vehicles entering through legal routes should also be increased 50 percent to 66 percent like the amnesty scheme or duties should be cut down.
Sarhadi also urged the government to adopt micro-system for the promotion of the export and abolition of unnecessary restrictions on export and increasing the role of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and government in it.
He was of the view that international trade is passing through changes and suggested for making both short and long range planning to face the international trends in trade.
He said that beside creation of awareness among the trading community in this connection, the government should allow the export of domestic manufactured goods without any complication. He also suggested the disposing of the exported goods through EPB.
Demanding attractive increase in the ratio of rebate and duty drawbacks, he called for the release of refundable rebate and sales tax within 72-hours to prevent the stoppage of the exports so that the amount of the exports would not be blocked.
Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi, who is also member of the SCCI standing committee on railway dryport, said that presently the prices of domestic manufactured goods are high than the smuggled one, which playing a havoc with the local industry.
He called for waging a war on smuggling and search of new taxpayers to increase the national revenue.
He demanded the government to seek the suggestions of the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), industrialists, and concerned government officials experts, president of all chambers and traders' representatives from all four provinces of the country before the formation of the next federal budget.