Tue, 21-Oct-2025

Tax returns filing declines 12% in 2021

tax returns

KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has registered a decline of 12 per cent in the annual returns filing for the tax year 2021, official documents revealed. According to the provisional statistics made available to BOL News, the number of return filers for the tax year 2021 fell to 3.04 million, compared with 3.45 … Read more

Finance Ministry notifies raise in govt employees’ salary

sales tax

KARACHI: The Ministry of Finance on Thursday notified the grant of an ad hoc relief of 10 per cent of basic pay of government employees that was announced in the Federal Budget 2021/22. A notification issued by the ministry said the president had sanctioned the allowance with effect from July 1, 2021 and till further … Read more

Punjab: Notification Of 25% Grant In Salaries Of Govt Employees Issued

Punjab: Notification Of 25% Grant In Salaries Of Govt Employees Issued

Notification of 25% special grant in salaries of government employees has been issued. According to the notification, the salaries of employees of grades one to 19 who do not take executive or special allowance have been increased and the decision to increase the salaries of employees will be effective from June 1. According to the … Read more

PTI-led government has made life a living hell for the masses in the name of Naya Pakistan: Bilawal

bilawal press conference

Following Prime Minister Imran’s budget speech in the National Assembly, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that the “PTI-led government has made life a living hell for the masses in the name of Naya Pakistan.” Bilawal said that all the measures the government has taken, are completely in the favor of the rich instead of the poor. … Read more

Bilawal vs Qureshi showdown in National Assembly

bilawal and qureshi

PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi traded heated words during a blaring session of the NA. After strictly criticizing the government over the budget 2021-22 and accusing the legislative process conducted on Tuesday, the PPP chairperson left the House. “He spoke a lot about [parliamentary] procedures; I would also like to … Read more

Tax Imposed On Mobile Phone Calls Will Affect Poor Section Harder

Tax Imposed On Mobile Phone Calls Will Affect Poor Section Harder

The government’s proposal to increase taxes on mobile phone calls will hit prepaid customers, especially those from the lower-income group, the hardest. According to the detail, the finance minister had announced the imposition of additional federal excise duty (FED) at the rate of 0.75 per 5 minutes on mobile phone calls. The industry protested the … Read more

Mobile phone users to pay at least 38% more for calls above 5 minutes

mobile service restored

KARACHI: The government’s decision to impose an additional federal excise duty on call duration above five minutes would become 38 per cent costlier for the mobile phone users that would further go up after every five minutes, industry sources said on Saturday. At present, the tax on a mobile phone call is Rs1.97 inclusive of … Read more

Budget 2021-22: What are the government’s revised plans

Shaukat Tarin Budget speech

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin delivers the final session of debate on Budget 2021-22 in the National Assembly. House considers recommendations made by Senate for incorporation to Budget 2021-22. Tarin emphasized “comprehensive and sustainable development this time around” during his budget speech. “We will give interest-free loans up to Rs300, 000 for agriculture. An interest-free loan … Read more

Finance Minister answers the reason behind going to IMF

Finance Minister hints at "extraordinary" drop in flour prices in next few days

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin spoke about the major challenges faced by the PTI government Tarin further explained how the government tried to deal with these challenges with limited resources. The biggest difficulty, he said, “When the PTI government came to power, was the country’s current account deficit of $20 million”. In the past, growth could … Read more

Budget 2021-22: Senate committee to increase government employee pay by 10% to 20%

Budget 2021-22

Karachi: In the budget 2021-22, the Senate Standing Committee on Finance unanimously suggested that government employees’ pay be increased from 10% to 20%. Senator Taleh, the Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenues, convened a meeting on Monday at Parliament House to finalize budget recommendations for the years 2021-22. Senator Sherry Rehman … Read more

Pakistan Not Able To Increase Defence Budget Due To Previous Govts’ Debts

Pakistan Not Able To Increase Defence Budget Due To Previous Govts' Debts

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has said that Pakistan has not been able to increase the defence budget in the same way that the neighbouring countries have increased it, mainly due to the repayment of loans. During the National Assembly session in Islamabad, he said that the current government is paying more than Rs 2,000 billion … Read more

SBP issues policy to make banking process easy for disabled persons

State Bank moratorium on consumer loans’ principle

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday issued a policy for the financial inclusion of persons with disabilities to make banking process easy for them. The central bank issued the policy to make banking easy and convenient for them through supportive physical infrastructure, accessible products and services, assistive technologies, and supportive staff interactions. … Read more

Baluchistan budget 2021-22 session delayed, as opposition locks up assembly gates

balochistan assembly

Opposition members jammed access to the Balochistan Assembly grounds on Friday to avoid the demonstration of the provincial budget 2021-22. The budget was scheduled for 4 pm, but the budget session could not proceed further as opposition associates locked the assembly gates and prohibited officials from opening the gates. The opposition members sustained their protest … Read more

Shahbaz Sharif criticizes govt over ‘rising inflation, unemployment’

Shahbaz Sharif

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif has criticized the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led government over the rising inflation and unemployment in the country. While addressing the National Assembly, Shahbaz Sharif stated that the unemployment rate has risen to 16 percent and inflation has reached its peak. He further asked about the promise made by … Read more

Govt and Opposition lawmakers almost come to blows

NA Unanimously Passes Resolution Condemning Attack On Hindu Temple

The National Assembly session today was full of chaos with Govt and Opposition was under fire, while accusing each other with continuous jeering. As opposition leader Shahbaz spoke, tempers rose when the government and Opposition lawmakers came face-to-face. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Ali Nawaz Awan can be seen in a video clip, retorting … Read more

FPCCI rejects tax officials’ arrest powers

6th of September

KARACHI: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Tuesday rejected the proposed powers for the tax officials to make arrests on concealment of income, a statement said. The FPCCI President Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo slammed the amendment to Section 203A of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, proposed through the Finance Bill, … Read more

PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif accused government for revealing “fake” numbers in the budget. 

Shahbaz Sharif

PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif criticized the government, accusing it of misleading commonalities by revealing “fake” numbers in the budget. The leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly was speaking on the federal budget issued by the government a few days ago, plaintive that the poor were anguish from poverty while the government appealed it … Read more

Major tax incentives fuel equity market rally

fuel tax incentives

KARACHI: The equity market started the week on a positive note and remained in the green territory throughout the day, as investors’ sentiment was high due to the announcement of major incentives and reduction in taxes in the federal Budget 2021/22, dealers said on Monday.

Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp said that the stocks closed higher led by across-the-board scrips, as investors weighed the Federal Budget FY22 relief in the capital gains tax, withholding tax to brokerages and the relaxations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the industrial tariff.

“Record higher global crude oil prices, relief for the pharmaceutical sector and services exporters in the federal budget FY22 played a catalytic role in the bullish close.”

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) KSE-100 shares index gained 0.87 per cent, or 421.36 points, to close at 48,726.08 points. The KSE-30 shares index gained 0.87 per cent, or 168.7 points, to close at 19,647.43 points.
As many as 413 scrips were active, of which 238 advanced, 161 declined and 14 remained unchanged. The ready market volumes stood at 1.2 billion shares, compared with the turnover of 1.02 billion shares in the last trading session.

An analyst at Arif Habib Limited said the market opened on a positive note; following the budget announcement on Friday evening.

“Dividend anticipation from SOEs [State-Owned Enterprises] helped the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) propel to hit the upper circuit; followed by [the] positive price performance of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL).”

Similarly, positive measures for footwear, tyres, refinery, steel and cement sectors supported the listed scrips in these sectors to perform positive during the session. The market hit a high of 677 points after the pre-opening session, after which profit-booking brought the index down by 400 points; however, buying momentum continued, which enabled the index to close up 380 points (unadjusted).

An analyst at JS Global Capital said the PSX witnessed a post-budget rally where the KSE-100 index made an intraday high of 677 points before closing at 48,726 points.

“From the petroleum sector, OGDC, up 7.5 per cent; PPL, up 4.8 per cent; and Mari Petroleum, up 0.3 per cent; gained to close higher on the back of a substantially higher dividend target set by the government from these companies.

From the auto sector, Pak Suzuki (PSMC), up 7.5 per cent gained to close at its upper circuit; following the government’s decision to reduce the general sales tax (GST) on the locally-assembled cars up to 850cc to 12.50 per cent from 17 per cent in the Federal Budget 2021/22, while also providing an exemption from the federal excise duty.

Moreover, the refinery sector gained on significant developments in the Federal Budget for the sector.

“Going forward, we expect the market to persist upside momentum accredited to the notable budgetary measures; therefore, we recommend investors to take exposure in cement, steel, and refineries,” an analyst at Pearl Securities said.

The companies that reflected the highest gains included Rafhan Maize, up Rs190 to close at Rs9,690/share; and Wyeth Pakistan, up Rs150.47 to close at Rs2,156.84/share.

The companies, which reflected the most losses included Sapphire Fiber; down Rs37.97 to close at Rs762.03/share; and Faisal Spinning, down Rs20 to end at Rs410/share.

Highest volumes were witnessed in Byco Petroleum with a turnover of 109.21 million shares. The scrip gained Re1 to close at Rs12.83 share; followed by the Hum Network with a turnover of 108.39 million shares, as it gained six paisas to close at Rs8.68/share. WorldCall Telecom was the third with a turnover of 98.04 million shares, as it gained one paisa to finish at Rs4.23.

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‘We should not play politics with the poor’, Shaukat Tarin

shaukat-tareen

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin addressing the post-budget press conference in Islamabad today, stated that the government had presented an aggregate growth budget, and their challenge is to alleviate the GDP. The finance minister said that the poor and deprived in Pakistan had not conventional loans and training for the last 70 years. He said loans … Read more

10% increase in salary ‘worst joke’, Ahsan Iqbal

Ahsan-Iqbal

PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal criticized the government’s suggestion to increase the income of salaried individuals by 10% and called the move the “worst joke”, taking to Twitter. “A 10% increase in the salaries after record inflation is the worst joke made by the government with them,” tweeted Iqbal. “We reject this. At least a 20% … Read more

Opposition leaders decides to give govt ‘tough time’, insists on not letting budget pass

bilawal-shahbaz togather

Opposition leaders, PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday stated that the Opposition would join hands to work together and give a hard time to the current government, declaring to not let the budget navigate through in the National Assembly. Bilawal alongside Shahbaz, speaking to the media after the parliament’s … Read more

Budget 2021-22: Govt abolishes withholding tax from banking transactions

Budget 2021

KARACHI: The government has abolished the withholding tax on cash withdrawal from the banking system and non-cash banking transfers to provide relief to the general public.

The federal government in its Federal Budget 2021/22 presented on Friday took major relief measures by abolishing 12 withholding provisions from the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

Under the relief measures, the government has abolished the provisions of Section 231A related to banking cash withdrawal and Section 236P related to non-cash banking transfers of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

Other provisions deleted from the ordinance to abolish the withholding tax included the collection of tax from persons remitting amounts abroad through credit or debit or prepaid cards; collection of tax on domestic air travel; collection of tax on international air travel; tax collection on extraction of minerals; collection of tax from the members by a stock exchange registered in Pakistan, it said.

Similarly, the collection of tax on marginal financing by the National Clearing Company Pakistan Limited (NCCPL); tax collection from compressed natural gas (CNG) stations; and collection of tax on certain petroleum products have also been abolished.

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Budget 2021-22: Government sets 4.8% target for next year growth

Budget 2021-22

The past three years of the present Government has faced numerous economic challenges, aggravated by the Covid 19 Pandemic, but the Government so far has successfully progressed from retrieval and maintenance for sustainable growth as mentioned in Budget 2021-22. The Government’s priorities are as follows:  Comprehensive and maintainable economic growth  Pro-poor enterprises and social safety … Read more

Budget 2021-22: Govt announces Rs8.487 trillion outlay; sets GDP growth target at 4.8%

Budget 2021

KARACHI: The government on Friday presented the Federal Budget 2021-22 with an outlay of Rs8.487 trillion on the hope of economic revival, development and prosperity.

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin presented the budget in the National Assembly. He said the government had set a GDP growth target at 4.8 per cent.

“We hope [the] growth will be even higher due to the measures we have taken in this budget. Like in the past, we will not leave the weak segments of our society at [the] mercy of the trickledown effect.”

In the next couple of years, the government wants to increase growth to 6 per cent to 7 per cent, Tarin said, adding that the government has estimated tax revenues for FY22 to be around Rs5.829 trillion, and non-tax revenue target is set at around Rs2.080 trillion.

Moreover, the government aims at raising Rs681 billion through bank borrowing, including treasury bills (T-bills), Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) and Sukuk. Proceeds from the privatisation are estimated at Rs252 billion; while net external receipts are estimated at Rs1.24 trillion.

As per the National Finance Commission (NFC) distribution, provinces will get Rs3.412 trillion. The government has set the debt and interest payment target of Rs3.06 trillion for FY22, while civil and military pension spending will be around Rs480 billion.

The budget also estimates subsidies to different sectors at around Rs682 billion, while Rs100 billion have been earmarked to fight Covid-19 woes.

Tarin said that there was no new tax being imposed on the salaried class in the Federal Budget FY2021/22, adding that to support small businesses, the annual turnover tax ceiling has increased from Rs10 million to Rs100 million, while sales tax is being reduced.

The federal excise duty is being removed from cars up to 850cc, while the value-added tax (VAT) on these is being removed. “The government of Pakistan wants to support manufacturing of electric cars for which a lot of tax relaxations are being given,” the finance minister said.

The federal budget has proposed reduction / exemption of Customs duty, additional Customs duty and regulatory duty on the import of goods falling under 589 PCT codes to incentivise the textile industry.

Tarin also proposed reduction / exemption of Customs duty, additional Customs duty and regulatory duty for cables and optical fibre manufacturers; exemption on raw materials for paint industry, chemicals and artificial leather industry, electronics manufacturing industry.

To provide relief to the common man, the government has proposed reduction of additional Customs duty on goods falling under 2,436 tariff lines pertaining to 20 per cent Customs duty slab from 7 per cent to 6 per cent.

Tarin also announced an extension in the exemption from Customs duty on the import of Covid-19-related items for further six months. The rationalisation of regulatory duty on the import of mobile phones to encourage import substitution, and increase in the rates of regulatory duty on the import of non-essential and luxury items to support local industry have also been announced by the finance minister.

To improve ease of doing business, a new uniform export facilitation scheme is being proposed, which will be phased out in the next two years. The sale of goods through online marketplace is proposed to be brought into the sales tax net by deeming the online marketplace as a supplier in respect of the third party sales through their platform.

For specified goods, it is proposed that it may be made mandatory for the manufacturers of such goods to obtain brand licence for each separate brand or SKU. Zero-rating is proposed to be withdrawn from petroleum crude oil, parts / components of zero-rated plant and machinery, import of plant and machinery by petroleum and gas sectors and the supply, repair and maintenance of ships.

The Sixth Schedule and Eighth Schedule of Sales Tax Act are proposed to be streamlined and reduced rates other than relating to basic food items, health and education are proposed to be brought into the standard regime.

The minimum annual threshold of turnover from all supplies for the cottage industry is proposed to be increased from Rs3 million to Rs10 million.

To encourage IT industry in the country, import of plant, machinery and raw material by Special Technology Zone is proposed to be exempted from sales tax. Rising prices of locally-manufactured small cars is a major concern for the low earning families.

Accordingly, it is proposed that small cars up to the engine capacity of 850cc may be exempted from the value-added tax, besides reducing the sales tax rate from 17 per cent to 12.5 per cent.

To reap reasonable revenue from this sector, federal excise on mobile phone calls exceeding three minutes at the rate of Re1/call, SMS message at one paisa/SMS, and internet data usage at Rs5/GB is being proposed. This will result in mild taxation of a broad spectrum of the population.

However, the rate of the federal excise duty on telecommunication is proposed to be reduced from 17 per cent to 16 per cent, he said, adding that the government has also proposed to tax premium on car prices, if the vehicle is sold before registration.

The government has also proposed reduction in the tax rate on capital gains tax on the disposal of shares from the existing 15 per cent to 12.5 percent while reduction in the tax liability by 25 per cent for women entrepreneurs is also proposed.

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Budget 2021-21: PSDP Highlights

Budget 2021-22 GDP growth rate set

The federal government in Budget 2021-21 has broadcasted an Rs2.1 trillion disbursement for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), with Rs900 billion set aside for federal and Rs1.235 trillion for provincial development programs. Aviation Division – Rs3,558.2 million Board of Investment –  Rs80 million Cabinet Division – Rs46,155 million Climate Change Division – Rs14,327 million … Read more

Budget 2021-22: HEC to get Rs42.45 billion

Budget 2021

The federal government has assigned Rs42, 450 million for the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for the Budget 2021-22 under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). According to the Budget 2021-22 document, Rs29, 736 million have been reserved for ongoing projects and Rs12, 713 million for new schemes. Among the ongoing schemes, an amount of Rs100 … Read more

Budget 2021-22: How Much Relief Will Govt Provide To People?

Budget 2021-22: How Much Relief Will Govt Provide To People?

The budget for the financial year 2021-2022 will be presented in the National Assembly today and important information has begun to emerge. The federal development budget for the next financial year is proposed to be 38% higher than the current financial year, Rs 100 billion is proposed to be spent on power transmission projects and … Read more

Budget 2021-22: Pakistan moving towards economic stability after a long time, Fawad Chaudhry

Budget 2021-22 Fawad Chaudhry

Ahead of the federal budget 2021-22, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has on Friday said that Pakistan is moving towards economic stability after a long time under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

In a tweet, today, Fawad said all the economic indicators are positive.

The Minister said political and economic stability was attained due to full confidence of the general public and institutions in the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He urged the opposition to treat accountability and reforms separately and take part in the negotiation process with the government for electoral and judicial reforms.

On the other hand, all eyes will be on the National Assembly as the PTI-led government presents its third federal budget today (Friday).

The government has said it aims to move towards growth from stabilisation via direct interventions to provide relief to four to six million people. The budget revolves around the three Ds on the expenditures front, including debt servicing, defence and development.

Alarmingly, the resource envelope has diminished after paying resources to provinces under the NFC mechanism and fulfilling the debt servicing obligation.

The budget for the financial year 2022-2021 will be presented in the National Assembly today.

The total volume of the budget for the year 2021-22 is likely to be more than Rs 8,000 billion, which will be presented by the Federal Minister of Finance Shaukat Tarin in the National Assembly.

Will there be an increase in the salaries of government employees or not? The final decision will be taken at a meeting of the federal cabinet before the budget is presented.

It is proposed to increase the salaries of government employees by 10 to 15 per cent.

900 billion is being set aside for the federal development budget and Rs. 1,330 billion for defence.

The target for tax collection in the new financial year will be Rs 5,705 billion, 480 billion in pensions, 530 billion in subsidies, 900 billion in development budget, 510 billion in civil government expenditure and 994 billion in grants.

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