The government has imposed up to 500% more taxes on imported cars in an effort to protect the local automobile industry from foreign competition.
This revelation was made during a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), as per a report by The Express Tribune. The committee recommended that government should reassess the level of protection being awarded to local car manufacturers, who they say are swindling customers by overcharging and then delaying deliveries.
The committee recommended that instead of calling the local companies ‘manufacturers’, they should be called ‘assemblers’, as that could alter the level of tax protection they get from the government.
As per the PAC, the tax protection given to the companies is done so on the basis of the imposition of custom duties, additional custom duties, sales tax, additional sales tax, federal excise duty and income tax. These taxes are applied at rates that are far higher than those on the import of parts for locally assembled cars.
The PAC stated that local companies, which enjoy 241% to 500% protection, have ‘failed to honor their commitments’, and frequently overcharge customers and delay deliveries for as long as a year.
“Before the recent imposition of additional duties, the protection level was in the range of 100% to 390%,” said Special Secretary of Commerce Mujtaba Memon.
The committee directed the Ministry of Industries and Ministry of Commerce to review the protection status and make a new policy within a month that addresses the current issues brought up by the PAC.
