ISLAMABAD, June 28: The government has reduced the rate of sales tax from 20 to 15 per cent on import of around 15 items relating to steel sector, paper industry and chemicals.

These amendments were notified through four different sales tax notifications issued here on June 9.

The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has rescinded the budgetary notification SRO 466 of 2007 through SRO644 of 2007 issued here on Thursday.

The items which were not included in the list of the new notification are now automatically chargeable at the rate of reduced rate of 15 per cent.

The new SRO has now two tables: Table-I specifies items chargeable to sales tax at import and supply stage at the rate of 20 per cent, i.e. chemicals, plastic products, paper products and aluminium foil, etc., and the table-II contains a list of flat-rolled iron and steel products, which will now be chargeable at import and supply stage at the rate of 17.5 per cent.

Through another SRO (645 of 2007), two per cent extra sales tax shall be leviable on imports made by commercial importers, in addition to the standard chargeable rate of sales tax.

Importers paying extra sales tax of two per cent shall not be required to pay any further sales tax on subsequent supply of their products. Therefore, sales tax liabilities of commercial importers shall stand discharged at the import stage.

According to another SRO (646 of 2007), the rate of sales tax on remeltable scrap, and ships imported for breaking has been made zero per cent.

Through yet another SRO (647 of 2007), seven categories of registered persons have been excluded from the condition of 90 per cent input adjustment under Section 8B of the Sales Tax Act, 1990.

The sectors exempted include electric energy, oil marketing companies and oil refineries, fertiliser manufacturers, manufacturers consuming raw material chargeable to sales tax at the rate of 17.5 per cent or 20 per cent, wholesalers and distributors, wholesalers-cum-retailers and commercial importers.