The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) should amend income tax rules to allow 100 percent write-off on expenditure made by mining sector to encourage coal utilisation in the country.
Sources in mining sector told Business Recorder on Tuesday that former Senator Saifullah Khan Paracha has suggested to the Pakistan Engineering Council to consider his proposals before preparing the final report on energy.
According to suggestion report, Paracha said that CBR should amend income tax rules to allow 100 percent write-off on expenditure made by mining firms on construction works of buildings, houses and roads at coal mine sites.
"Coal mines are located in wilderness and far away from towns. Buildings at mine sites are valuable as long as mining operation continue and the mines are productive. In towns buildings appreciate in value with time but buildings at mine sites have little resale value. Private sector feels justified to request government to allow 100 percent write-off," he said.
The report identified that at present depletion allowance is allowed to mining companies but this is subject to the condition that the depletion allowance does not exceed 50 percent of the total invested money in the mining venture. The privates sector's request to remove this condition should be considered. The federal government should withdraw the levy of General Sales Tax on coal for at least another five years.
The report suggested that import of mining machinery and equipment should be free of custom duty to encourage import of these items for use in coal mines. The government should allow coal mining concerns to import truck for coal transportation free of custom duty as it was done once before because it would reduce coal transportation cost.
"Bank loans for coal mining industry should be provided at three percent concessional interest rate," the report said and adding that recently government had provided bank loans to exporters of Pakistani goods at concessional interest rate of three percent to promote exports to improve the export-import imbalance. This facility should be provided to the mining sector.
The report said that at present 90 percent coal mining concerns are partnership firms. There is not a single private limited company of coal concern in Pakistan in the private sector.
"If financial foundation is to be provided then these mining concerns have to be encouraged to convert into public limited companies with their share quoted on stock exchanges." Presently owners of mining concerns have a lot to lose financially if their concerns convert to public limited companies.
The reason is that they have invested a huge amount in their coal mining ventures in the establishment of permanent mine workings, such as tunnels, adits, vertical and incline shafts, levelways, haulage roads and ventilation roads. But for simplicity of book keeping they charged the expenditure as coal production cost and not entered these expenses as mine development assets.
This was permitted by the income tax department as it made no difference towards assessment of income tax, but under this practice balance sheets fail to show all the mine development assets.