KARACHI: A delegation from All Pakistan Motorcycle Spare Parts Importers & Dealers Association (APMSPIDA), while highlighting some major issues being faced by APMSPIDA members, sought KCCI’s assistances in convincing the authorities to reduce the exorbitant duties and taxes particularly 35 percent Custom Duty and 11 percent Additional Duty on import of motorcycle spare parts, which terribly raises the cost and make of these spare parts unaffordable for the poor public, says a Press release.
APMSPIDA delegation, which was led by its Chairman Khalid Waheed during its visit to KCCI, pointed out that that in addition to abovementioned Customs Duty and Additional Duty, the importers of motorcycle spare parts also pay numerous other taxes including sales tax, income tax and additional sales take, making their finished goods uncompetitive.
Due to widespread smuggling of motorcycle spare parts, the legitimate importers and dealers have been facing immense hardships and were not in a position to compete with smuggled spare parts because pf exorbitant taxes and duties along with higher valuation ruling for motorcycle spare parts which have to drastically reduced to discourage smuggling and encourage legal imports.
Vice Chairman Businessmen Group & Former President KCCI Anjum Nisar, President KCCI M. Shariq Vohra, Senior Vice President KCCI M. Saqib Goodluck, Vice President KCCI Shamsul Islam Khan, Former President KCCI Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, Former Vice President Nasir Mehmood, KCCI Managing Committee Members and others attended the meeting
Vice Chairman BMG Anjum Nisar assured APMSPIDA delegation that KCCI under the supervision of its President will certainly take up this issue with FBR so that it could be resolved as per aspirations of the relevant stakeholders. He was of the opinion that Custom Duty, which currently stood at 35 percent, should be somewhere around 20 percent.
On the occasion, President KCCI M. Shariq Vohra also assured the delegation that KCCI supports their righteous demand to bring down the exorbitant taxes and duties which were badly affecting local production and extended full support to get this serious issue resolved.
He suggested to form a team comprising representatives from KCCI and APMSPIDA which should be tasked to identify issues and accordingly give suggestions for the same in order to create a conducive environment which would prove favorable for the economy by creating employment opportunities. “If the issue of exorbitant customs duties and taxes stands unresolved, the Karachi Chamber would invite relevant officers at KCCI so that they could be comprehensively briefed about the severity of the problem and requested to provide relief to importers and traders”, he added.
Senior Vice President KCCI M. Saqib Goodluck was of the view that if it was not possible to stop smuggling from the entry points, the best solution was to bring down the custom duties and taxes while the traders must also completely boycott smuggled items which would save them from raids by numerous agencies.