ISLAMABAD
The federal government has withdrawn sales tax on the import of onions and tomatoes to help reduce prices of these two vegetables after floods destroyed crops on thousands of acres.
The Federal Board of Revenue on Thursday issued a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) to withdraw sales tax on the import of onions (PCT heading 0703.1000) and tomatoes (PCT heading 0702.0000). PCT stands for Pakistan Customs Tariff codes.
The exemption has been granted until December 31, 2022. Onions and tomatoes are vital ingredients for most of the dishes in Pakistani cuisine. Their prices soared after the floods and tomatoes now cost as much as Rs500 per kilogram in major urban centers — around sixfold higher than the prices before the floods.
The price of onion has also shot up to Rs300 per kilogram. The All Pakistan Fruit & Vegetable Exporters, Importers & Merchants Association (PFVA) had recently urged the government to remove taxes and duties on the two vegetables.
The government recently announced that it will facilitate the import of onions and tomatoes, especially from Iran and Afghanistan. However, the ban on imports from India remains in place.
Waheed Ahmed, the patron in chief of PFVA told a private television channel that the government has granted 13,000 permits for the import of onions and tomatoes and will issue more letters in the next few days.
He said Pakistan was importing onions and tomatoes from Iran while the import of onions from UAE, Egypt and Turkiye was also in process. Floods have contributed to rising food inflation in Pakistan which has risen to 29.5% on a year-on-year basis, according to the latest data shared by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
