The ship agents have urged the government to withdraw 15 percent Central Excise Duty (CED) on the commission earned by them. Founder Chairman of All Pakistan Shipping Association (APSA) Farrukh Qaisar in a fax to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that ship agents in Pakistan charge and collect 15 percent CED on their export commission earnings from their non-resident principals. This is creating a lot of hardships for the principals who were already paying 8 percent tax on gross freight as well as on terminal handling charges as per Section 7 of the Income Tax Ordinance.
He said that the commission earnings of ship agents are also subject to tax at applicable rate of 41 percent under income tax regime or 5 percent withholding tax under presumptive regime.
The APSA founder chairman appealed to the government to relieve the shipping lines of heavy burden of taxes which has become unbearable for them, especially after September 11, 2001 developments.
He argued that 15 percent CED in the sales tax regime has not only brought a negative impact on the business of shipping lines, but it has also hurt the export sector and industry.
He felt that the government should take measures to provide relief to the country's shipping and export businesses. He feared that to avoid losses the shipping lines would either reduce the quality of service offered to the trade or impose other charges to recover the loss, which would cause impediments in achieving export target, he said, adding that all such measures would adversely affect the country's international trade.
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