Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: The government has generated a revenue of 65 million afghanis from gold weighing 1.7 tons only in capital Kabul during the last year of 2017, Ministry of Finance on Tuesday announced.
Habibullah Amin Andar, MoF’s revenue director for the central zone said the ministry’s revenue was collected from different areas of businesses and the business of gold was on the top and most effective, adding revenue from gold sales in Kabul increased by fourfold last fiscal year (1396).
“In the past, only 220 goldsmiths would pay taxes, but now 475 pay their taxes,” Andar said.
Highlighting the gold business, he said jewelers with annual sales above 250,000 afghanis paid 1.5 percent revenue but those earning less than that were exempted from tax.
Andar said sales and purchase bills, the level of shop rent, economic side of the workplace, investment period, primary investment, variety of goods and the number of customers were observed as appealing factors in boosting the gold business.
According to him, the revenue from the gold business could be increased if proper awareness and enthusiasm among the taxpayers was nurtured.
Moreover, Zabihullah Habibi, a goldsmith called on the government to review taxes according to sales and expenses.
“Currently 70 percent of gold selling in Kabul markets is recycled gold and only 30 percent is imported from foreign countries,” he said.
In addition to that, Fawad Ahmad Salehzada, a jeweler in Timor Shahi area of Kabul, said that the amount of tax they paid was high and the government should consider their business conditions.
“We on average earn 2,000 afghanis a day, but this amount cannot meet our spending and tax,” he said.
The MoF and the goldsmith association did not measure gold sales in Kabul, but the measurement by the Pajhwok Afghan News is based on the revenue shows that 1.7 ton of gold was sold in the capital last year.
