ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) has proposed to exempt duties and taxes on exports proceeds to cope with the fallout from Covid-19 on exports, said Commerce Adviser Abdul Razak Dawood.

“We had a meeting with the Federal Board of Revenue for implementation of this principle on several of our products including leather, poultry and electric fans,” the advisor said, adding that the policy the Commerce Division is following is there should be no element of duties and taxes in exports.

The presumptive tax at the rate of one per cent is currently applied on export proceeds to facilitate exporters and exempt them from the normal taxation.

Razak, however, did not elaborate whether exporters’ complete income will be exempted from income tax. He further said the duty drawbacks will be revised and the system vastly simplified for exporters.

As most of the world is in a state of lockdown, he said the reliance on IT-enabled services has increased manifold. “I strongly urge the world to look at Pakistan as your business destination,” the adviser said.

With the easing of the lockdown, “I hope our exporters will be able to move forward under the new SOPs of the provinces,” he said, adding “If you face any difficulties please inform the Ministry of Commerce.”

Razak further informed that to facilitate businesses, refunds of Rs47.5 billion were paid in the last 100 days in textile and non-textile sectors.

Meanwhile, he also briefed the Standing Committee on Commerce under the Chairmanship of MNA Naveed Qamar, saying that 61 essential medical items identified by the Ministry of National Health Services were exempted from all duties and taxes on March 20 while a ban was placed on export of 10 essential medical items.

He added that in support of countering the health emergency, Expo centres at Karachi and Lahore were given to respective provincial governments for setting up field hospitals.

A number of consultative sessions were held with top exporters and chambers to assist and formulate strategy to deal with COVID-19 related challenges and offer all kinds of assistance they require from commerce ministry, the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) as well as the concerned officers posted abroad, he said.

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2020