8.5% GST on goods made in KP, FATA and PATA
By Sajid Chaudhry
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has fixed 8.5 percent general sales tax (GST) against standard rate of 17 percent on supply of goods manufactured in areas Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) to the tariff areas of Pakistan.
To this effect, the FBR authorities issued SRO 117 (I)/2011 on Friday to facilitate the industrial sector and manufacturing units of the KP, FATA and PATA.
According to the notification, federal government has announced that the goods produced or manufactured in such areas, where the Sales Tax Act, 1990, is not applicable but are included in the Prime Minister's Fiscal Relief to Rehabilitate the Economic Life in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA and PATA, namely, Bajaur Agency, Mohamand Agency, Khyber Agency, Orakzai Agency, Kurram Agency, North Waziristan Agency, South Waziristan Agency, Malakand Agency, District Swat, District Buner, District Shangla, District Upper Dir and District Lower Dir, shall be charged to fifty percent of the sales tax, if supplied to a person in any area where the Sales Tax Act, 1990, is applicable. This concession shall not be applicable to cement, sugar, beverages and cigarettes sectors. The notification shall deem to have taken effect from March 10, 2010.
In the past, the board had issued an SRO 165(I)/2010—under which the government has exempted 50 percent of leviable rate of sales tax on supplies of goods, other than cement, sugar, beverages and cigarettes, by the registered persons located in districts of Hangu, Bannu, Tank, Kohat, Chitral, Charsadda, Peshawar, Dera Ismael Khan, Batagram, Lakki Marwat, Sawabi and Mardan.
Following is the text of the notification issued on Friday: In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, the Federal Government is pleased to direct that the goods produced or manufactured in such areas, where the Sales Tax Act, 1990, is not applicable but are included in the Prime Minister's Fiscal Relief to Rehabilitate the Economic Life in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA and PATA, namely, Bajaur Agency, Mohamand Agency, Khyber Agency, Orakzai Agency, Kurram Agency, North Waziristan Agency, South Waziristan Agency, Malakand Agency, District Swat, District Buner, District Shangla, District Upper Dir and District Lower Dir, shall be charged to fifty per cent of the rate leviable under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, if supplied to a person in any area where the Sales Tax Act, 1990, is applicable.
