Vehicle transfer, registration: Dealers association requests reversal of WHT

Chairman writes letter to finance minister, laments latest measure.

KARACHI: All Pakistan Motor Dealers Association (APMDA) Chairman H M Shahzad has asked Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to reverse the increase in withholding tax on transfer and registration of vehicles.

In a letter to Dar, Shahzad said the government’s latest measure would discourage buyers of used cars.

“After increasing the import duties on used cars, the government has introduced new tax measures that will scare away buyers completely. It seems that the government is penalising the public for buying cars,” he wrote.

Shahzad argued that people will shy away from buying cars and the government will ultimately lose revenue instead of seeing an increase.

Even though the tax is adjustable for a filer, a person with a small tax liability would not subject himself to different problems that arise in receiving a refund from the government, the letter said.

The increase in duties will not be beneficial for the government as buyers will stop car transfers and drive on authority letters instead. People will also stop paying motor vehicle tax which will further increase corruption and lawlessness in the country, he wrote in the letter.

“In the absence of public transport services, a car is a necessity not a luxury,” he maintained. “Therefore the government should not penalise citizens for buying cars by increasing the withholding tax on transfer and registration fees.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2014.

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