KARACHI: The Pakistan International Freight Forwarders Association (PIFFA), Fleet Operators Association of Pakistan (FOAP) and others have announced to suspend commercial activity until the federal government agrees to revoke what they termed ‘unjust’ 8 percent minimum tax on turnover on all service providers.
Speaking at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday, Chairman PIFFA Asim Saeed, Nadeem Sharif of Travel Agents Pakistan and chief of All Pakistan Securities Agency said that the service providers had held several meetings with chairman and officials of the Federal Board of Revenue.
However, it seems that the government — while acknowledging its mistake, is unwilling to make correction, forcing the services providers to discontinue business activities. “We are working on a very thin margin and we cannot survive on 8 percent turnover tax,” they said.
The freight forwarders and air cargo serve over 80 percent of Pakistan’s import and export trade. And, the closure of business will bring the external trade of the country to almost standstill. This will effectively mean that the importers will not be able to obtain delivery orders nor take deliveries of their cargo from seaports/bonded CFS, they added.
Similarly, they said that exporters would not be able to ship their goods through seaports/bonded CFS, nor will be able to get their bills of ladings for negotiations and proceeds.
The leaders demanded that the government should immediately withdraw the tax on turnover in order to save the economy and business
