FBR agrees to reduce sales tax on textiles

ISLAMABAD – In a major development, the association of the textile mills has succeeded in convincing tax authorities to lower the general sales tax (GST) on sales of their products in the domestic market from April 1.
An industry source said a delegation of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) held talks with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Saturday and per the agreement, trade between the registered sales tax units would remain zero rated for all export products like before and if they sold or purchased unfinished products from unregistered units, they would pay GST at six percent.
They would be paying GST at four percent on domestic sale of their finished products. The delegation succeeded in convincing the tax authorities that the imposition of 17 percent GST on local sales would further increase inflation. It was decided in principle that FBR would rescind the SRO 231 that ended zero ratings on domestic sales, and issue a new SRO that would be applicable from April 1.