KARACHI (The Thursday Times) — The government intends to abolish the super tax completely, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial told industrialists on Wednesday, saying work on phasing it out has begun.
Langrial told the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry that the rate had already been cut by two percentage points as a first step. No timetable for the rest was reported, nor how the revenue would be replaced. Pakistan is in an International Monetary Fund programme, and in October Fund staff agreed about $1.2 billion in new financing that still needs the board’s approval.
The levy on high earners, introduced in 2015, has been challenged in court by big companies. The Federal Constitutional Court upheld it on January 27, and on Monday reserved its decision on taxpayers’ petitions seeking a review of that ruling.
The FBR will also open an office at the association to deal with industrialists’ tax problems, extend its help desk from Karachi to Sukkur and consult stakeholders on problems with raw material imports, Langrial said. He asked business to help tackle tax evasion. The association’s president, Sheikh Umer Rehan, said billions of rupees in refunds remained held up with the FBR and called for them to be paid on time.
