FBR raised regulatory duty by 5% to 10% on 570 imported items

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has amplified the regulatory duty by 5% to 10% on the import of almost 570 luxury items, in order to restrain imports and to reinforce the local business.

A notice is issued by the tax department on Tuesday, stating that the federal government is in favor to compel a regulatory duty on the import of goods coming under the Pakistan Customs Tariff (PCT) code of the first schedule.

According to the notification issued, 5% to 105 regulatory duty has been imposed on around 80 serial numbers, which comprise of animal (alive), meat, fish, eggs, paper, motorcycles & cycles. However, 5% to 10% regulatory duty is augmented on these items, such as frozen fish & fillets, cheese, curd, fruits, nuts, tobacco and motor cars.

According to FBR, the main reason behind imposition of regulatory is to limit the imported goods, which were at present are sky-scraping. Furthermore, it is proposed that the tax department will acquire almost Rs8 billion returns, due to the impose of regulatory duties.

The regulatory duty imposed on various items are as follows, 5% on pure breed animals, 10% on live poultry and fish items, 25% on concentrated milk and cream, 25% on whey powder, 50% on cheese and curd, 45% on sour cherries, 60% on other wheat and fruit juice, and 30% on cigarette paper.

Previously, the PML-N government, issued a notice on October 16, 2017, in which the imposition of regulatory duty was done on almost 731 serial numbers and then in May this year, the government, through an additional notification, imposed regulatory duty on 480 serial numbers.

However, it is very important to reveal here, that the government, in its supplementary budget, had declared that regulatory duty will be end on 34 exported raw material, but the Senate’s Standing Committee on Finance by majority votes had conflicted this initiative.