Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday rejected two significant tax proposals from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for the next fiscal year’s budget.
The FBR had suggested imposing an 18 to 19 percent sales tax on various items and up to 18 percent on petroleum products, aiming to generate billions of rupees in revenue.
However, Prime Minister Sharif dismissed these proposals and instructed the FBR Chairman to develop alternative suggestions.
This decision comes after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommended that Pakistan impose a sales tax on petroleum products during recent negotiations.
It is noteworthy that since March 2022, the government has suspended the sales tax on petroleum products. Instead, the federal government is currently levying a petroleum development charge of Rs60 per liter.
