June 02, 2007	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 16, 1428

ISLAMABAD, June 1: Chairman Central Board of Revenue (CBR) M. Abdullah Yousuf has regretted that potential taxpayers are not willing to pay their due taxes and want exemptions to save their earnings from being taxed.

The reality is that our tax-to-GDP ratio is the lowest in the region and it can only be improved if everybody pay their due share in taxes, the CBR chairman said while responding to the demands of the representatives of the trade and industry here on Friday.

He was addressing the meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue headed by Senator Ahmad Ali. The briefing was attended by representatives of textile, sugar, stock exchange and beverages to move their proposals for budget.

While responding to the recommendations of these sectors, Mr Yousuf said that if all sectors were exempted from duty and taxes from where the developmental budget would be financed.

The views expressed by the textile millers had already been discussed at a higher level and necessary decision would be announced in the budget, he added.

He informed the committee that sales tax had already been zero-rated on five major export sectors. Similarly, customs duty on machinery and raw materials had also been reduced. “We are reviewing to further rationalise duty if there are any other machinery or raw materials which attract higher duty,” he disclosed.

Answering a question, the CBR chief said that export of sugar to Afghanistan was not banned. However, he said that export and import attract equal amount of 15 per cent customs duty.

To a proposal to increase duty on import from 15 per cent to 30 per cent, the chairman said that the proposal would be reviewed. The issue of inclusion of fibre under the DTRE scheme was also consideration, he added.

On a demand to reduce the capital value tax on stock exchange, he said that the CBR was collecting a very nominal duty of 0.02 per cent under the head of CVT from stock exchange as compared to 0.2 per cent in India.

An additional duty of 10 per cent as capital gains tax is also imposed on those brokers in India who held their shares for more than 10 months, while there is no capital gains tax in Pakistan, he added.

The meeting was informed that more than 100 spinning mills had been closed down in recent past.