Duty on dates import reduced ahead of Ramadan

The government has reduced import duty on dates to help stabilize prices ahead of the month of Ramadan.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued two separate notifications in this regard on Thursday (November 21).

According to the new directive, the existing customs duty on date imports has been reduced from 25% to 15%. Furthermore, the advance income tax rate has been slashed from 10% to 3%, and the existing 5% advance tax has been completely withdrawn. In total, this has reduced the tax burden on date imports from 63.60% to 38.70%.

Reducing import duties will increase the import of dates. The supply of dates in the market will also increase. This will keep the selling price of dates within the purchasing power of the common people.