Pakistan to impose tax on NATO trucks

Pakistan is mulling to levy special tax on trucks, carrying oil and other items for foreign troops in the neighbouring Afghanistan, official sources said on Friday. Pakistan to impose tax on NATO trucks Nearly 500 trucks and oil tankers daily cross into Afghanistan via Pakistan to deliver fuel and other items to around 150,000 US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan. At present no tax is levied on these trucks, according to officials and now two special check posts will soon be established at two border points in the northwestern Khhyber Pakhtoonkhwa and southwestern Balochistan province. A parliamentary committee had recommended to the government to impose special tax on NATO/ISAF containers passing through Pakistani roads, but the decision has not yet been taken Pakistan has reportedly been suffering around $83 million loss every year due to NATO/ISAF freight truckloads that are badly damaging the National Highways network for eight years, reports say. Causing Pakistan’s road network under tremendous strain, the overloading of NATO/ISAF and American Transit Freight to Afghanistan has been in practice since 2002. The parliament’s Public Accounts Committee had asked the government to impose taxes on NATO containers as Pakistan should get revenue from NATO containers taking supplies to Afghanistan. A member of the committee had also stated that 256 containers pass only through Torkham to Afghanistan daily. A similar number cross into Afghanistan through Chaman border in Balochistan. Other Parliamentary Committees like Senate Standing Committee on Communication over two months before had reportedly recommended that NATO containers were bound to pay toll tax at toll plazas as these overloaded trucks are damaging the national highways. Officials say NATO trucks have caused damage to Pakistan road network of billion of millions of dollars. Reports say that average damage caused by NATO/ISAF freight on main routes leading to Afghanistan is 19 per cent of total expenditure spent on repair and maintenance of road and infrastructure.