KARACHI Oct 8: The provincial government has decided to consider amending the Sindh Prohibition Rules 1979 for merger of different levies/taxes on liquor into one tax and collect such tax before issuance of import permit to plug leakage/ pilferage affecting revenue generation.
Sindh cabinet on Monday agreed to the proposal presented by secretary excise and taxation Aftab Ahmed Memon, and constituted a committee headed by finance minister with secretaries of finance and E&T as members, to finalize the proposal for the merger of liquor taxes — licence fee, excise duty, vend fee, assessment fee, 10 per cent surcharge on assessment fee, permit fee etc., — into a single tax/duty.
This multiplicity of taxes results in cumbersome accounting besides chances of evasion.
Secretary E&T informed the cabinet that the government earned a tax revenue of Rs674.995 million during 2001-2002, out of which about 90 per cent (Rs607.495 million) was on account of receipts from levy on liquor.
Due to anomalous rate levy in different provinces, a huge quantity of liquor was being smuggled to Sindh, badly affecting the effort of revenue generation, he told the meeting.
The cabinet decided to take up the issue at the inter- provincial forum for compatibility of rates in different taxes/ levies by unifying the same amongst all the provinces, through mutual consultation, specially with Balochistan.—PPI
