Raw material: Tractor industry calls for cut in import duty

Believes sales tax reduction will revive the industry

LAHORE: The government’s decision to reduce the general sales tax to 5% on tractors was a longstanding demand of the tractor industry and farmers, said Al-Ghazi Tractors CEO Mohammad Shahid Hussain, adding the reduction would go a long way in reviving the tractor industry.

He said the step would help the farmers with an increase in farm mechanisation. The decision to reduce sales tax will spur growth and stabilise the industry by increasing sales and securing jobs.

Sales tax revisions in the past have been a major issue for the tractor industry. Since its imposition, Pakistan recorded a negative growth in terms of tractor sales in the last five years.

However, Hussain revealed that the industry had given further suggestions, which needed to be adopted and the overall situation should be made conducive for the tractor industry and positive for sustainable growth, thus ensuring the desired mechanisation at farms.

One of the suggestions is related to the anomaly between input tax and output tax.

To solve the outstanding issue, the CEO said they had made suggestions in their budget proposals calling for a reduction in the rate of input tax on the purchase of components (local and imported) by tractor manufacturers to match the output rate.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2016.

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