ISLAMABAD: Prices of various medicines have witnessed a significant increase as a result of imposition of one percent advance tax on drugs besides creating a shortage in the medicine market. Chemists and druggists talking to Business Recorder Monday said that their associations throughout the country have denounced the decision.
They termed the imposition of advance tax on the sale of the medicines as the economic murder of chemists, druggists as well as masses who are already facing serious economic problems.
According to medicine traders, the price of Ciproxin 500mgs tab has been increased from Rs475 to Rs510 per pack, concor 5mgs tablet from Rs230 per pack to Rs245 per pack, Risek capsules 400mgs from Rs364 per pack to Rs410 per pack, and brofin tablet from Rs16 per pack to Rs25 per pack.
Panadol tablets from Rs12 to Rs18 per pack, Risek capsules 200mgs from Rs245 per pack to Rs280 per pack, nuberol forte tab price from Rs85 per pack to Rs100 per pack, and tablet Rigera from Rs185 to Rs202 per pack.
Moreover, Brofin syrup price has jumped from Rs64 per syrup to Rs75 per syrup, Panadol syrup from Rs80 to Rs97 per syrup, and Evion Capsule from Rs58 to Rs65.
A number of drugs are short in the medicine market as the drug manufacturers are not willing to sell these medicines on old prices and wanted to increase the rates.
Mucoloterschate is not available in the market, tablet inderal is also not available in the market, japrolox plus tablets are also not available, rivotril 0.5 mg tablet also missing, librax tablets are also not available along with another list of the critical drugs.
Traders said that the one percent advance tax would ultimately affect their business and the government should have taken the pharma stakeholders into confidence before making any such decision.
The pharmacy sector, they said, was on the verge of collapse and the government should have supported chemists instead of burdening them with more taxes.
They said that tax collection was the duty of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and other relevant departments, but the government had decided that the medicine distributors would do the duty of tax collection.
They said that another medicine price hike is on the cards as the government is all set to allow the pharma industry to increase drug prices inline with annual inflation while imposition of fresh taxes has already burdened the masses.
Traders said that the government should not play with the lives of the people by imposing taxes on life-saving drugs, saying that the new taxes had affected supply of medicine in the market and the ultimate sufferers are the masses.
Traders further said that the majority of the traders were tax filers and they could not collect taxes from others.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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