‘Tax the other guy’

Tobacco growers in Pakistan have lauded the government’s decision to abolish a PKR300 ($4.34) additional tax on tobacco crops and asked the government to impose higher taxation on multinational companies.

Addressing a press briefing at the National Press Club, the tobacco growers also asked the authorities to restore jobs of workers terminated by tobacco companies.

Previously, the Federal Board of Revenue had imposed the tax on the sale of tobacco, which the local farmers termed as granting indirect benefit to the multinational cigarette manufacturers.

The president of the Pakistan Kisan Board, K.P. Rizwanullah, said that elimination of the PKR300 tax from cultivators will increase the sale of tobacco and will improve the financial status of the growers.