ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), in a bid to reduce the import of luxury items in the country in the wake of their worse impacts on both local industry as well as flight of precious foreign exchange reserves, has taken a number of measures.
Since the Global Financial Crisis, the risks posed by rising inequality have become ever more evident. Not only are some academics blaming the global crisis on rising inequality, but also the shallow
Higher ratio of import of luxury items in the total quantum of import, results in local currency depreciation, and spendthrift expenditure of foreign exchange reserves earned through exports as well as remittances.
Therefore, a well placed official source at FBR told Customs Today that regulatory duty at the rates of five to thirty percent had been imposed on the import of around 400 luxury items, which include perfumery, cosmetics, toilet preparations, articles of leather, fabrics, clothing accessories, air-conditioning machines, watches, furniture, toys and video games etc.
Moreover, the regulatory duty has been imposed in addition to the customs duty, sales tax and withholding tax on the import of such items. Various rates of customs duty from 50% to 100% have been imposed on import of cars and jeeps depending upon engine capacity.
The source said that in result of aforesaid measures taken by the FBR, the average monthly import bill on luxury items had declined significantly. Average monthly revenues from these imports however declined marginally too.
It is worth mentioning that in most countries international trade and importing goods represents a significant share of the gross domestic product (GDP). International trade has a significant economic, social, and political importance in many countries. Imports provide countries with access to goods and services from other nations. Without imports, a country would be limited to the goods and services within its own borders
