To keep the prices of fresh fruits within the people’s purchasing capacity during the holy month of Ramadan, the government issued two new notifications on March 16, slashing import duties on fresh fruit in the public interest.
According to a press statement by the National Board of Revenue, the supplementary duty on fruit imports has been slashed from to 25 per cent from existing 30 per cent.
Moreover, the 5 per cent advance tax has also been exempted completely.
Meanwhile, in a separate notification issued on March 10, the NBR slashed the advance income tax on fruit imports to 5 per cent from the existing 10 per cent.
As a result, the total tax burden on fruit imports has been lowered by 15 per cent.
The statement also said that in the broader interest of the people, the current interim government has significantly reduced import duties, regulatory duties, VAT, advance income tax, and advance tax on essential commodities such as edible oil, sugar, potatoes, eggs, onions, rice, dates, and pesticides in recent months.
These tax reductions have helped keep commodity prices tolerable during this year’s Ramadan.
Along with daily essentials, the government has also fully exempted VAT on the widely used, fast, safe, and environmentally friendly metro rail service.
The statement also said that the government exempted VAT on both local supply and imports of e-book services to support students and enhance access to books.
Moreover, to reduce the financial burden on Hajj pilgrims, the government has completely withdrawn excise duties on Hajj tickets and implemented various other tax exemptions for public interest.
