Tax-bitten motorcycle parts traders shout out for a break

KARACHI: Burdened by high taxes and duties, the motorcycle spare parts traders have urged the Karachi’s top trade body to plead their case with the authorities for immediate relief as they are on the brink of closure because of high cost of doing business, a statement said on Friday.

“As much as 35 percent Custom Duty and 11 percent Additional Duty have terribly raised the cost, making these spare parts unaffordable for the poor public,” said Khalid Waheed, chairman All Pakistan Motorcycle Spare Parts Importers & Dealers Association (APMSPIDA), in a meeting at Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).

Waheed, who led a delegation of APMSPIDA to KCCI, pointed out that in addition to abovementioned Customs Duty and Additional Duty, the importers of motorcycle spare parts were also paying 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 off outrageous taxes and duties along with higher valuation ruling for motorcycle spare parts, which have to drastically reduced to discourage smuggling and encourage legal imports,” Waheed said.

Anjum Nisar, Vice Chairman Businessmen Group at KCCI, assured APMSPIDA delegation that KCCI under the supervision of its President would certainly take up this issue with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) so that it could be resolved as per aspirations of the relevant stakeholders.

Ajnum was of the opinion that Custom Duty, which currently stood at 35 percent, should be somewhere around 20 percent.

M Shariq Vohra, President KCCI, also assured the delegation that Karachi chamber supported 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.

Vohra suggested forming 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 enabling environment which would prove favorable for the economy by creating employment opportunities.

“If the issue of exorbitant customs duties and taxes stands unresolved, the hamber 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.

M Saqib Goodluck, Senior Vice President KCCI, said if it was not possible to stop smuggling from the entry points, the best solution was to cut down the custom duties and taxes, while the traders must also completely boycott smuggled items, which would save them from raids by numerous agencies.