PESHAWAR - A representative delegation of cigarette manufacturers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa called on Pakistan Tobacco Board Chairman Ikram Ghani here on Wednesday.
The delegation consisted of Jan Bahadur Khan, Dilawar Khan, Sher Bahadur Khan as well as representatives of PTC, PMPKL, Pak Hills and KTC. The cigarette manufacturers expressed reservations regarding the proposed imposition of 5 percent withholding tax at the time of purchase of tobacco. They said that the tobacco manufacturing sector was already under heavy burden of taxes.
They said further taxation would definitely affect payment to farmers, adding that due to high price, Pakistani tobacco was non-competitive in international market due to which tobacco export was declining. Farmers are also complaining about increasing cost of production. If cost of production increases further, sustainability of the crop will be at stake, they added.
The tobacco growers will switch to other crops and then it will be difficult to bring them again to the production of tobacco, the manufacturers argued. More taxation will lead to more illegal practices. The genuine buyers will reduce their declared quota and will prefer purchase through illegal means. All this will lead to affect sustainability of the crop, they complained. They requested the PTB chairman to convey their apprehensions to the federal government and oppose the proposal. On the occasion, the PTB chairman said that the government was undertaking all efforts to discourage the flow of smuggled and non-duty-paid cigarettes to the market.
