Tobacco farmers on Monday admitted that the advance income tax of Rs 390 per kilogram is not applicable on growers, but it would hurt local tobacco companies, who pay good price for the locally procured tobacco.
Islamabad(Staff Reporter)
Addressing a joint press conference here on Tuesday at the National Press Club=, Liaquat Yusufzai Tobbaco Growers Association of Pakistan, Rizwan Ullah President Kissan Board Pakistan, President Mehnatkash Labour Federation Ibrar Ullah and farmers associations pleaded to withdraw the said tax to favour the small tobacco manufacturers.
When asked why the local producers are protecting the interest of the local cigarette manufacturers, they responded that the national companies pay better price of unmanufactured tobacco as compared to the multinational citrate manufacturers. Even if the tax is adjustable, the small companies are not documented to claim such adjustment and keep track of all transactions. On the other hand, the big companies are fully documented and they can easily claim the tax adjustment.
“We have called this Jirga at the federal capital to place our demands before the government”, Rizwan Ullah President Kissan Board Pakistan stated.
He said that the tax would end the competition between the local companies and big companies and small companies would be out of the business. There would be monopoly of only big companies after implementation of this tax.
“We only want that there should be a level playing field for all companies in the country. Instead of limited buyers, there must be a number of buyers of the same product”, he added.
He said the advance tax on the tobacco leaf was hurting the sale of the crop in the market and this would render over 15,000 labourers and 20,000 families of the farmers jobless.
President Kissan Board Rizwan Ullah also rejected imposition of the advance tax on the crop, saying the government was destroying ripe crop of the farmers through such tactics instead of providing them relief.
He said that all farmers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province would stage a sit-in in Islamabad if the advance tax on the crop was not withdrawn.
Liaqat Yousafzai of Kashtkar Coordination Council Khyber Pakhtunkhwa termed the imposition of the advance tax on the tobacco crop as “public enmity.”
He said that rates of tobacco were increasing the world over while they were decreasing in Pakistan. The farmers in Swabi, Mardan, Charsadda, Boner and Mansehra grow the tobacco crop and they have urged the government to facilitate them by withdrawing the advance tax on it.
Other speakers on the occasion said the government was collecting billions of rupees annually in taxes through this crop, but it was not ready to provide relief to the public.
They said the government should facilitate the farmers in sowing and harvesting of the crop as this was contributing billions of rupees in taxes annually.
Naimat Shah Roghani, president of farmers’ rights protection organisation, said that imposition of the advance tax on the tobacco crop was result of a nexus between the government officials and multinational tobacco companies.
He said the tax was aimed at eliminating the local tobacco industry and buy the crop from the farmers on cheaper rates.
All tobacco farmers of the KP province have warned the government of protests in front of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in Islamabad and to block the motorways if it failed to withdraw the advance tax of Rs 390 per kilogram.
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