LAHORE: Pakistan Steel Smelters Association has urged the Federal Board of Revenue to withdraw 4 per cent withholding tax on purchase of scrap and restore SRO 550 till June 2014 to enable the smelters to survive.
Pakistan Steel Smelters Association Chairman Mian Muhammad Saeed while talking to Customs Today said that it has become difficult for the steel smelters to survive in such circumstances where the smelters are running out of cost due to heavy taxation including 4 per cent withholding tax on purchase of scrap and 1 per cent turnover tax.
He said that earlier the ratio of turnover tax was 0.5 per cent which has been revised to 1 per cent. He said that in three provinces of Pakistan the rate of electricity tariff is 12.20, sales tax is Rs 4 while fuel price adjustment is Rs 1.22 per unit. “In order to manufacture 1 tonne of billet we have to utilize 800 units of electricity,” he added.
The chairman said that cost of a furnace running in Punjab is Rs 10 million per month which is forcing the furnaces to close down. More than 50 furnaces have been closed down and the remaining 132 units are on the verge of collapse.
He urged the Prime Minister, Chief Justice and Finance Minister to intervene to save the dying industry of steel smelting.
