MULTAN, Oct 3: The Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) has condemned the increase in income tax on ginneries.

In a statement, PCGA chairman Khalid Rasheed Chaudhry termed the increase as illegal, saying that the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) could not have done so in the light of an agreement signed between the government and ginners in 1991.

He said the CBR had increased the fixed income tax ratio from one to 1.5 per cent. He said the ginners would actually have to pay income tax at the rate of 1.72 per cent. “This is nothing but a violation of government-ginners agreement,” he added.

Mr Rasheed said a PCGA delegation would soon meet the CBR chairman to make him realize the gravity of the resentment prevailing in the ginners’ community over the levy.