KARACHI: All Pakistan Motorcycle Spare Parts Importers and Dealers Association (APMSPIDA) has called for cut in duties from 35 percent to 20 percent on import of motorcycle spare parts.
The Association, in its proposals for the annual federal budget 2015-16, also urged the government to abolish additional duty on import of motorcycle spare parts falling under chapter8700-0000 respective headings.
Chairman APMSPIDA, Faisal Khalil, in a statement here on Saturday, maintained that motorcycles are the cheapest mode of transport for the poor, which unfortunately are subject to 35%custom duty plus 15% additional duty, 17 percent sales tax plus 3 percent additional tax and 5.5 percent income tax. Almost 100 percent burden of duties is put on the importer of motorcycle spare parts.
He assured that Government revenue will grow by 45 percent to 50 percent if the legal import of these spare parts is facilitated and encouraged.
The Association’s members contribute Rs3-4 billion to the national exchequer in the shape of duties, in addition to providing over 400,000 jobs, he said.
He alleged that the smuggled spare parts are being used by the local assemblers, which causes huge loss to the government revenue besides flourishing the flying invoices.
He demanded inclusion of spare parts of motorcycles in free trade agreements with China and Malaysia.
Faisal Khalil said that the Association has been working for the last many years for promoting legal trade of motorcycle spare parts in the country and for the betterment of its members.
He said Pakistan’s engineering industry has 0.1 percent share in the world’s total business worth $ 400 billion, which is second largest sector after textile.
APMSPIDA Chairman also suggested that time limit of 45 days be fixed to decide the revised petition filed under section 25 D of the Customs Act-1969. At present, the Customs valuation department in many cases takes years to decide the matters, he pointed out.