Islamabad: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials have rejected reports of discontinuation of income tax exemptions on a monthly income of PKR 50,000, according to news published on October 30.
The board has assured that these exemptions will remain in effect. It emphasized that the FBR is currently in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and they want to make it clear that introducing new taxes and reconsidering taxes for low-income individuals will not be part of these discussions.
The FBR authorities clarified that the tax exemption for individuals earning PKR 50,000 monthly will remain unchanged, and the exemption for those earning PKR 600,000 annually will not be revoked.
They emphasized that there are no ongoing deliberations or proposals to withdraw this tax exemption, and the World Bank (WB) has not suggested lowering the existing threshold of PKR 600,000.
Furthermore, the officials pointed out that the imposition of taxes on income from the agricultural sector falls under the jurisdiction of provincial governments and is beyond the scope of the FBR.
Earlier today, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced its decision to maintain the key policy rate at 22% in the latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. This decision was made in light of an IMF review and various economic factors influencing the decision.
The SBP released a press statement stating that the MPC recognized that headline inflation had increased in September 2023, as anticipated. However, the central bank anticipates a decline in inflation for October and expects it to continue on a downward trend, particularly in the latter half of the fiscal year.
In another related development, Interim Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar has revealed that the FBR has exceeded the tax collection target set by the IMF for the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
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