Miftah Ismail, Federal Minister of Finance and Revenue, met with Shini Yanagi, Vice Chairman of Toyota Indus Motor Company (IMC), in the Finance Division yesterday.
The conference was arranged a day after the government’s tax rise suggestion for the car sector. It was attended by Ali Asghar Jamali, CEO of Indus Motor Company, and other top authorities from the Finance Division and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
Toyota IMC’s vice-chairman and CEO informed the Minister of the company’s contributions to Pakistan’s economy and industry. They also expressed their concerns about the situation of the economy and made some ideas for the car sector in the 2018 budget.
Yanagi and Jamali also informed the government of Toyota IMC’s ambitions to manufacture Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) locally soon. They asked the government to help the auto sector in the 2019 budget to keep consumer pricing and car sales stable.
Ismail welcomed Toyota IMC’s top executives and stated that the government is aware of the business community’s concerns and barriers to expansion. He asserted that the current administration would provide a favorable atmosphere for all businesses to assure continued economic activity and progress.
He also noted that the 2019 budget will be business-friendly and will help to promote exports. Ismail also promised the corporate leaders that the car sector would receive full support in the next measures.
It should be noted that Toyota IMC just stopped bookings for all automobiles due to the economy’s volatile status.
Tax Hike Recommendation
FBR recently suggested a 100 percent regulatory duty (RD) increase on automobiles with engines larger than 1,300cc. It is worth noting that most automotive firms in Pakistan do not sell vehicles with engines less than 1,300cc. Only a few automobiles with modest engines are available from the new companies.
This suggests that taxes on the majority of automobiles will most certainly rise, which will significantly influence car sales.
