Books are still being subjected to 5% import duty despite the abolition of levy on newsprint by the govt
KARACHI: Books are still being subjected to 5% import duty despite the abolition of levy on newsprint by the government. Ours is a country where the cellphone-addicted youth is fast losing contact with the book. And retaining tax on books is bound to further the gap between the reader and the book, besides creating a deficit of trust between the buyer and the seller.
In order to instil the habit of book-reading into the tech-savvy children of today, the government needs to take steps to promote the culture of reading, research and study — something for which quashing the existing import duty on books should be a starting point.
This small step would encourage people to buy books, particularly of reputed international authors, at the original price i.e. without paying an extra cost in terms of taxes. It would also deter the hugely prevalent piracy of the reading material.
As the book editor and former first lady of the US Jacqueline Kennedy Onnasis once said, “there are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of book is the best of all”, books should be made available at affordable prices.
Nazia Kashif Qadri
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2019.
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