The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), while taking a strong exception to the issuance of SRO 448(1)2011 whereby the government has withdrawn sales tax exemption on import of machinery and demanded of the government to withdraw the SRO in the larger interests of the economy of the country.
The LCCI Senior Vice President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad, in a statement on Tuesday said that the withdrawal of exemption that is a blow to already crawling Industrial sector, will not only jack up the project cost by 17 percent, while the financing requirements for existing projects would also go up.
He said that the withdrawal of the exemption would open the door for under invoicing and smuggling, as the step will result in failure of industry to upgrade its technology, as industry will find it impossible to import modern technology. The LCCI Senior Vice President said that through this action government has withdrawn sales tax exemption from not only general importers of machinery but also from the industrial units, which is a very unfriendly step towards progress of industry. If this withdrawal of exemption is absolutely necessary it should only be withdrawn from commercial importers and not the industrial units.
He demanded of the government to reinstate the exemption of sales tax on import of machinery by withdrawing SRO 448(1)2011. Till the time such orders are passed, LC date and /BL date should be considered, while dealing with consignments at customs that have already reached Pakistan.
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