Syed Mazhar Ali Nasir, Senior Vice President and Chairman of the Budget Advisory Council of FPCCI in the budgetary proposals prepared under his guidance has urged the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) that there should be zero percent duty on import of capital goods – if not manufactured locally – for all industrial concerns as well commercial importers as all the capital goods (plant and machinery) are ultimately used by the industry. “This would help reduce cost of import and stimulate grown of industry including expansion of existing industrial capacity and generate employment and export surplus”, he added.

He argued that there should be no upfront cost on plant and machinery – new or second hand for initial installation of Balancing, Modernization or Replacement (BMR) as its installation results in taxation activity.

The FPCCI SVP elaborated that the import of textile machinery is zero rated whereas the Fifth Schedule to the Customs Act, 1969 provides reduced rate of customs duty on import of all other capital goods. He recalled, “Our competitor nations allow duty free import of plant, machinery and other capital goods”.