Call for restoration of tax exemptions

Lahore: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Thursday urged the government to restore tax exemptions on solar panels, hybrid seeds, agri and industrial machinery etc. in the larger interest of the economy.
In a statement, LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir, Senior Vice President Mian Rehman Aziz Chan and Vice President Haris Ateeq said that the current economic state-of-affairs demands corrective measures by the government to put the economy back on track.
They said that despite clear assurance by the Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, imposition of 17% tax on solar energy equipment was quite surprising. They said that the solar and wind power plants are the only alternative solution against the rising prices of electricity, gas and petrol and the increasing environmental pollution in the country.
The LCCI office-bearers said that the fossil fuel based power plants require costly imported furnace oil while the installation of solar system is required one-time investment which provides continuous benefits for more than 25 years without additional expenses.
They said that the imposition of 17% tax on the solar energy equipment will fragile the efforts for the promotion of alternative energy sources in the country.
They said that the imposition of 17% Sales Tax on imported plant and machinery will make it difficult for our industrial sector, particularly SMEs to undertake technological up-gradation and hence the export competitiveness of our Industrial sector would be adversely affected.

They were of the view that manufacturing of our hi-tech sectors will also be affected by the proposed measures in the mini-budget. He said that our industry is heavily dependent on imports of quality raw materials as they are not available locally. They said that the imposition of Sales Tax on the raw materials of pharmaceutical industry would hinder the growth of pharmaceutical sector.

The LCCI office-bearers said that withdrawal of sales tax exemption on the import of seeds through supplementary Finance Bill 2021 will have far reaching consequences for the Pakistani farmers who are already facing challenges due to high input cost.

They said that the 17% sales tax on seeds will be directly hit the farmer, impacting their livelihoods. The imposition of additional taxes on hybrid maize seed will deter farmers from adopting quality seeds and will adversely impact crop yields.

They urged the government to look at the situation and restore the tax exemptions in the larger interest of the business community and the economy.