Gov't withdraws import duties of Rs50bn

ISLAMABAD: Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Saturday said that promoting industrialization and private business sector was the government's top priority which reflected in the budget proposals for the year 2020-21 as import duties of over Rs 50 billion on various tariff lines had been proposed to be removed.

Addressing a post budget press briefing here, the minister said that import duties on 1623 tariff lines (thousands of items) were proposed to be withdrawn while amount of import duties on 200 tariff lines have been reduced.

Similarly, he informed that as many as 10 types of withholding taxes were also going to be withdrawn for the fiscal year 2020-21.

He maintained that capital gain on tax on construction sector was being reduced to half and Federal Excise Duty on cement was also being reduced.

"The purpose of these measures was to provide maximum relief to the business and industrial sector as such incentives would help reducing cost of business in the country," he said adding these incentive measures would also encourage more people to invest and this produce more jobs in the country which was the ultimate goal of the government.