ISLAMABAD: The government abolished sales tax on the import of onions and tomatoes to overcome shortage of these essential vegetables and curb their price-hike after floods destroyed crops on thousands of acres.
The Federal Board of Revenue today issued an SRO to suspend sales tax on the import of onions and tomatoes till Dec 31, 2022.
Onions and tomatoes are unavoidable ingredients for most of Pakistani dishes. Soon after heavy rains and floods, their prices doubled (from Rs300/kg to 500/kg) in major urban centers against their earlier price of Rs80 to 100/kg.
The All Pakistan Fruit & Vegetable Exporters, Importers & Merchants Association (PFVA) recently urged the government to abolish taxes on the two vegetables.
The government recently announced that it will facilitate the import of onions and tomatoes, especially from Iran and Afghanistan. However, the ban on imports from India remains in place.
The government has granted permits for the import of 13,000 tons of onions and tomatoes and more permits will be issued in the next few days.
Pakistan is importing onions and tomatoes from Iran while the import of onions from UAE, Egypt and Turkiye was also in process.
Floods have contributed to rising food inflation in Pakistan which has risen to 29.5% on a year-on-year basis, according to the latest data shared by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
