ISLAMABAD: After revising the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the performance of the Air Freight Unit (AFU) Islamabad has increased. The AFU Islamabad collected Rs726.039 of all duties and taxes on imports during August Financial Year (FY) 2017-18.
According to details given by Shahid Jan, Deputy Collector, Air Freight Unit, Islamabad, the revenue collection system has become progressive against the revenue performance of the corresponding financial years.
During the past financial years, the AFU Islamabad has been earning less revenue due to implementation of the Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with different countries. Deputy Collector AFU told CT that, due to FTA between Pakistan and various countries, there has been a significant impact on the amount of import trade between the countries. This has prompted a shift from higher productivity to lower productivity in firms, which is far from optimal in the context of Pakistan’s growth strategy.
During this Financial Year 2017-18, the government has revised the FTA with different countries including China therefore the growth of revenue from imports under all the tax heads has increased significantly.
He said that, during the month of August FY2017-18, the AFU generated Rs197.827million of Customs Duty (CD) which is extraordinarily high against the last Fiscal Years of 2016-17 and FY15-16.
Deputy Collector further told CT that, during above said period, the AFU Islamabad received Rs346.379million as Sales Tax while it got Rs181.833million of Income Tax.
