KARACHI: Used cloth merchants on Tuesday urged the government to refrain from increasing sales tax on imported second-hand clothes from five per cent to 17pc as it would result in huge price hike for consumers and badly hit the masses.

Worn clothing and other used articles are imported under PCT 6309 0000. These items attract a sales tax of 5pc along with 5pc import duty, 10pc regulatory duty and 5.5pc withholding tax, taking the cumulative impact of duties and taxes to 25.5pc.

General Secretary of Pakistan Second Hand Clothing Merchants Association (PSHCMA) Mohammad Usman Farooqui said the government was planning to bring sales tax at 17pc on many imported items including worn clothing under the IMF conditions which would be announced in the mini-budget shortly.

“The cost of imports has already swelled manifold this year due to rupee’s devaluation from May to date. One dollar is now equal to Rs176 versus Rs152-153 in the interbank market in May. Rising freight has put imports under pressure,” he said. “Second-hand/worn clothing is mainly used by the poorest of the poor who cannot afford to buy new articles. Second-hand clothing is used especially in the northern parts of the country during winter.”

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2021