LAHORE: DTRE for packing material should not be allowed to the exporters/export houses while SRO 491 should be implemented on DTRE as well.
In a statement issued here, the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad, Senior Vice President Almas Hyder and Vice President Nasir Saeed said that this will have far reaching consequences for the nascent packaging sector of the country.
The LCCI office-bearers said that most of the said packaging industries are supplying packing material to the exporters and are duly registered for sales tax. They said that the denial of refund to exporters will encourage them to make purchases from un-registered persons so that only 1% tax is required to be withheld, instead of making purchases from said registered manufacturers/suppliers who will charge sales tax @ 17%. They said that the business of registered manufacturers/suppliers of packaging material will, therefore, come to a standstill and they will be forced either to close down or to de-register themselves and go in the un-organized sector.
They said that the problem will be aggravated in view of the fact that most of the large exporters houses will obtain DTRE for import or local purchase of various items including packing material. They will import packing material free of customs duty and sales tax under the said scheme and there will be no need for them to make purchases either from registered suppliers or from un-registered suppliers. They said that this will cause loss of local economic activity resulting in huge revenue loss to the national exchequer.
They said that the above facts point towards one thing that registered SMEs manufacturing/supplying packing material to exporters will not be able to continue their businesses.
The LCCI office-bearers urged the Federal Board of Revenue to resolve the issue in such a manner that registered SMEs are able to continue their business and to supply packing material to exporters/export houses.
They said that businesses are coping with number of internal and external challenges and direly needed a helping hand from the government departments to play an instrumental role for economic uplift of the country.
