ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and textile industry have discussed major budgetary proposals of textile sector to bring statutory regulatory order (SRO)1125 pertaining to five export sectors into the Sales Tax Act 1990, sales tax at retail stage and continuation of existing zero-rating regime without any changes in sales tax rates from 2017-18.
A delegation of textile exporters recently met Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Revenue Haroon Akhtar Khan and FBR team of budget markers at the Ministry of Finance.
According to a participant, industry has strongly proposed that the SRO 1125 should be made part of the law to avoid frequent amendments in the said notification. Once the SRO 1125 becomes part of the Sales Tax Act 1990, it would not be frequently amended on the desires of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
During the meeting, when one of the FBR officials hinted increase in sales tax rate on retail stage, textile representatives strongly contested that the rate of sales tax at retail stage under SRO No 1125 must be kept at existing 5 percent. It was assured that the same rate would continue in the next fiscal year. Industry agreed to provide lists of retailers operating within the supply chain for documentation purposes instead of increasing sales tax of 5 percent at retail stage.
