FBR Chairman asked to take notice of harassment

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Karachi Electronic Dealers Association (KEDA) President Muhammad Idrees, who is also Vice President of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), has urged the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman to take notice of the harassment of computer dealers and importers.

He was speaking to a delegation of computer dealers and importers here on Thursday. The delegation complained that the FBR representatives had been harassing the computer dealers on one pretext or the other since last few months, which was creating unrest among them.

Idrees regretted that the present government considered itself to be business-friendly but still the businessmen were being harassed.

He called for a reduction in import duty on computer and its accessories to make it affordable for the common man.

Meanwhile, a computer dealer told Business Recorder that the overall duties and taxes on the import of computers came to 27 percent, with 17 percent being general sales tax (GST), 3 percent value-added tax, 5.5 percent income tax and 0.85 percent Sindh Excise Duty along with miscellaneous expenses of 0.65 percent.

He said that such high tax was not only discouraging the import of computers through legal channel, but was also resulting in low revenue collection from the computer industry.