ISLAMABAD, Dec 22: The government is considering to levy 15 per cent General Sales Tax (GST) on all kinds of fertilizer at wholesale and retail stage shortly, a senior official told Dawn on Saturday.

The government on September 3, 2001 through a presidential ordinance, had levied 15 per cent GST at all four stages—from manufacturing to supply on all kinds of fertilizers. Urea fertilizer was already brought under the GST net last year.

However, through another notification, government had withdrawn GST on wholesale and retail stages and allowed it only at import and manufacturing stages.

But, Due to the repeated demand of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government was left with no option to extend the GST net to all stages.

The decision was taken in line with the recommendations made by the Fund under an agreement for Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), the official said.

A senior official in the CBR told Dawn that the decision of levying GST on fertilizers had been taken, but was shelved because the board considered its collection at wholesale and retail unfeasible.

He was of the opinion that the total cost on collection of GST at these two stages were higher than its net revenue collection.

The official further said that the CBR might have faced procedural and administrative difficulties while levying GST on fertilizers at wholesale and retail stages.

The Sept 3 decision was taken in line with the recommendations made by the Fund during the second review for the standby arrangement to extend the GST net to all other agriculture inputs by October 1, 2001 in order to draw a further about $131 million.

The GST to be levied on fertilizers included animal or vegetable fertilizers, mineral or chemical fertilizer (nitrogenous), mineral and chemical fertilizer (phosphatic), mineral and chemical fertilizer (potassium), mineral or chemical fertilizer containing two or three of the fertilizing elements including nitrogen phosphorous and potassium dyphorus penda- oxide, phosphoric acid, poly phosphoric acid, natural calcium phosphate and phosphate chalk.