ISLAMABAD: Minister for Industries and Production, National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain said on Friday that the government has decided to introduce a tracking and tracing system in the local cotton and gin industry to avoid tax evasion.
Talking to a delegation of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association that called on the minister, he said that the cotton industry has a key role in the rural economy and has the potential to provide employment opportunities to a large section of the country’s skilled and semi-skilled workforce. Earth.
Matters related to additional tax measures on cotton seed and cotton cake in the current budget were discussed in the meeting, a press release said.
The minister said a tracking and tracing system would be implemented on locally produced cotton bales to prevent tax evasion to protect the local farming communities as well as the country’s industrial sector.
Rana Tanvir Hussain said that the Cotton Control Act would be realistically implemented in collaboration with the provincial governments and assured the delegation that their proposals regarding sales tax on seed cotton and cotton seed cake would be considered.
The Minister also assured the delegation that the matter of new tax measures will be taken up with the Finance Division and the Federal Bureau of Revenue to assess the challenges faced by the local grain industry.
Speaking on the occasion, representatives of the Cotton Ginners Association informed the minister about the additional taxation of cotton products and said that high taxes are affecting the production in the cotton ginning sector. They urged the need to rationalize the taxation of these commodities for the benefit of the local industrial sector and also to promote cotton production in the country.
They said that the rationalization of sales tax would improve the tax compliance culture in the country and besides, it would help curb the growing tax evasion in the country.
The delegation informed the meeting that over 8.4 million bales of cotton were produced in the country during the last season, adding that there is potential to increase the production of the crop by up to 20 million bales with policy support.
