Pakistan's locally-assembled car prices to come down

Islamabad   :  The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered slashing of the taxes on the locally-assembled cars and this will bring the down the prices, the media reported on Wednesday.

A three-member bench of the country's top court ordered the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to reduce the taxes imposed on the production of cars in Pakistan from the current rate of 33 per cent to 25 per cent.

According to an official of a local car manufacturing company, Pakistani government's sales tax, customs duty, and income tax add up to an estimated 33 per cent of a vehicle's retail value.

The Supreme Court's bench heard the petition filed by Awais Ahmed, who is a social media campaigner against car manufacturers. The petitioner pleaded that the local car makers were charging unreasonably high prices, largely due to the high tax regime in the country. He further stated that the car makers were delivering low-quality vehicles to Pakistan consumers despite charging massive price.

Farhan Azhar, the petitioner's lawyer, told the local media, "We have requested for a reduction of taxes to 15 per cent. We have cited examples of taxation in the US, Canada, European countries and even India. We have brought into notice the UN International Charter. We are expecting that it would be reduced further."