ISLAMABAD - National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue on Tuesday has expressed its concerns on anomalies of General Sales Tax (GST) and Regulatory Duties (RD).
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue was held under the chairmanship of Faiz Ullah, MNA. The Committee discussed the anomalies being faced to business community /exports/ importers due to imposition of imbalance Sales Tax on raw materials, Tariff and Regulatory Duties, which cause grave concerns among the stakeholders. Businessman from different sectors i.e. textile & garments, stationary, surgical, leather, customs agents association, ginners, petrochemical and representatives from furniture making industry presented their issues before the Committee. The Committee discussed the said matters in details and issue necessary directions to the Federal Board of Revenue, Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Finance to address these anomalies of business community at the earliest (by tomorrow 23rd June, 2021) before the next meeting of the Committee.
The Committee directed the Secretary Ministry of Finance to make a request to the Federal Minister, Finance and Revenue for attending the next meeting of the Committee, which has already been fixed to he held on 24th June, 2021. The Committee members have expressed their concern about the anomalies in General Sales Tax (GST) and Regulatory Duties (RD). The Committee deferred the agenda pertaining to legislative business due to paucity of time.
Meanwhile, the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue on Tuesday continued to discuss the Finance Bill 2021-22 under the chair of Senator Talha Mahmood. Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry representatives told the committee that government should revive the zero-rated facility for five exports oriented sector. They said that refund process takes six months time. They further said that tax refunds process increase the burden on the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). The committee was informed that textile exports had increased in the current fiscal year. Senator Saleem Mandviwalla has also supported the demand of reviving zero-rated facility for exports sector.
However, Committee chairman said that tax refund process would not take long time under the new mechanism. Businessman Zubair Motiwalla said that government should change the scheme, which does not work. The government deducts 0.25 per cent on exports and it collected Rs58 billion from business community in this regard. The committee recommended the government to suspend the collection of exports cess for three year. It has also proposed to reduce the withholding tax on exports to 0.5 per cent from 1 per cent. The committee has recommended the government to withdraw proposed 203 section from the Finance Bill.
Mandviwalla said that ministry of commerce should release the funds under Export Development Fund instead of ministry of finance. The committee supported the proposals. The committee has recommended to reduce the General Sales Tax to 10 per cent on coco powder from 20 per cent.
The committee has recommended to impose tax on ships and boats. However, it opposed the imposition of taxes on the airplane. Mandviwalla said that air travel would be further expensive if we impose any tax on it. The committee has also recommended to provide tax relief to the commercial airlines. The committee has also discussed the taxes on property and jewelry.