ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee met on Thursday to review the Finance Amendment Bill. Senator Talha Mahmood chaired the meeting, in which the Gold Association highlighted the lack of tax system and policy for importing gold in the country.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, gold cannot be imported for commercial purposes. They said anyone who wants to import gold will have to arrange the amount (in dollars) on their own. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) added that 80 tons of gold were smuggled into Pakistan annually.
FBR said that despite having a Rs2.2 trillion gold market, only Rs29 billion has been declared. Of the total 36,000 goldsmiths in the country, only 54 pay their taxes, it added.
The proposal to increase GST on gold to 17 per cent (from 1.5 per cent) was turned down by the committee. The Ministry of Commerce was directed to frame necessary actions to control the smuggling of the gold.