ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue expressed concern over some clauses of Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, “having serious economic implications for the country”.
The Committee appointed a sub-committee to resolve the issues between the FBR and stakeholders on the Bill.
The committee considered “The Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024” (Government Bill). Minister of State for Finance and Revenue briefed the Committee on the background of the proposed Amendments. The Chairman FBR presented an overview on the Amendments.
National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Revenues established a sub-committee for ascertaining limits of transactions for imposing any transactions before granting assent to the Tax Laws Amendment Bill 2024.
What is Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 introduced in National Assembly?
The FBR high-ups informed the committee that out of a total 0.3 million industrial connections, only 30,000 are registered with the Sales Tax regime and now the FBR proposed to suspend bank accounts of those who will prefer to remain outside the tax net despite paying out increased electricity bills.
On the Income tax side, there are 6 million return filers and their immediate families including wife, dependent children and old age parents would be able to make transactions so practically there are 30 million legitimate persons who can buy plots of more than Rs 10 million and new cars.
The Chairman Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) Hassan Bakshi argued before the committee that there were no restrictions on making transactions in USA, Canada and other developed countries but the FBR proposed such stern actions here.
He requested the legislatures to oppose such measures because if these measures were approved then it would result in further halting of property transactions in the country. He said there are Rs 30 trillion deposits into banks out of which 60 percent of the money is owned by the non filers. He asked for a gradual approach but most of the committee members did not seem convinced.
However, the Chairman of the committee stated clearly that they could not oppose the FBR on the proposal to take actions against black money.
After lengthy debate, the sub-committee was constituted with the mandate to ascertain the limit of restriction for those declared illegitimate for making major transactions.
The FBR high-ups also informed the committee that they developed an App to update or amend the declaration into filed returns increasing the worth of filers and then they would declare legitimate for allowing them to make transactions in property or purchasing cars.
The members of the committee belonging to PPP, PTI and PML-N asked the FBR Chairman to explain the impact of these restrictions on non-filers and on the overall economy. Hina Rabbani Khar MNA from PPP termed such measures as draconian and asked such sweeping powers of the tax machinery need to be curtailed.
The Committee expressed concerns on some Amendments. The members pointed out challenges related to significant corruptions and capacity issues within the FBR. The members also observed serious economic implications for the country.
The Chairman of the committee emphasised the need to increase overall tax collection and enhance the registration of fillers in the network and directed the Chairman FBR to address the controversies in the Bill and propose solutions to mitigate the economic impacts of the bill in the country.
The Chair urged the Finance Division to take all stakeholders into confidence and remove anomalies. It directed the FBR to revisit the registration process and prepare an easy, user-friendly, and trouble-free procedure for a layman.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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