(18 December 2019)
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President All Karachi Industrial Alliance (AKIA), Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister, Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday said some important industrial sectors are crumbling under tax burden.
Taxes should be reduced on automobile, cement and other sectors which are unable to cope with the measures to enhance revenue collection, he said.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that taxation measures have become a nightmare for some industries resulting in reduced production.
The former minister noted that the price of a car in the local market includes 38 to 40 percent tax which has reduced production by almost 40 percent.
Two years ago a car sold for Rs1.6 million is now available at Rs2.3 million. Earlier the tax on cars was 35 percent or Rs560,000 which is now Rs920,000 but it has not added tor revenue as the sales have plunged.
Reducing taxes will boost demand, production, and employment in this sector and the government will be able to get more revenue, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that the cement sector is also reeling under taxes as Rs148 is collected on a bag of cement which has reduced its demand hitting construction sector providing jobs to millions and helping dozens of other industries to run.
He said that energy prices are continuously being increased while the gas price is also being increased to settle Rs181 billion circular debt which will increase the difficulties of the industrial sector.
The gas production is being reduced annually by seven percent but the import of LNG is not according to the demand which is threatening the investments in this important sector, he said. Price of fertiliser is also increasing in the market which should be noticed as it will hit the already fragile agriculture sector, he demanded.
