20000214

AJK businessmen

pay Rs 3bn taxes

annually

ISLAMABAD: Business community in Azad Jammu Kashmir pays over Rs 3 billion in taxes annually, sources in the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) said on Sunday.

These sources said the tax collection from AJK could be further enhanced with the establishment of a dry port in the region. Sources however, indicated that the introduction of the dry port was not under consideration.

Sources said that the issue could be considered if the government felt any need for a dry port in AJK. "For the time being there is no such proposal under consideration", a source said. He maintained that the establishment of a dry port in AJK could generate a lot of revenue for CBR.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Azad Jammu Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry has already submitted a written application to Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf for setting up of a dry port at Mirpur. The Mirpur city alone constitutes over 90 percent of the industrial sector of the AJK.

Non-availability of the dry port in AJK forces traders' to pay double tax once when importing raw materials from Pakistan or other countries and again when exporting finished goods. AJK Industry is almost 100 percent dependent on Pakistan for freighting in raw material. The State also imports several raw materials from other countries as well.ÑFortuna