Opposition parties in the Sindh Assembly on Saturday rejected the provincial budget for the fiscal year 2013-14, saying it will induce a surge in poverty and inflation in the province. Representatives of opposition parties including Sardar Ahmed and Faisal Sabzwari of MQM, Imtiaz Shaikh of PML-F, Irfanullah Khan Marwat of PML-N and Syed Hafeezuddin of PTI agreed that the budget "will affect the common man".
Faisal Sabzwari said that the opposition had unanimously rejected the finance bill 2013-14, insisting that the government had failed to justify its budgetary expenditures and taxation measures. Terming taxes imposed in the budget urban centric, he said taxes were all aimed at population in urban centres of the province. He criticised the government for "neglecting to impose agricultural income tax on big farmers". Terming the imposition of the 25 percent property tax unjustified, Sabzwari said that the government had left "no stone unturned to justify the financial problems of major agriculturists".
Syed Sardar Ahmed, also of MQM, clarified that the opposition could not move amendments to the finance bill because the government had not provide them with copies of the bill in advance.
He said that the opposition lawmakers had got hold of the bill on the eve of the assembly session held for the approval of the budget. He pointed out that during the last fiscal year, Sindh collected property tax worth Rs 1,300 million, of which Rs 1,200 million was collected from Karachi. Rejecting the government's move to impose infrastructure cess, he said that the matter was still pending in court awaiting settlement. He also said that the government had changed the definition of sales tax on services, adding that this would largely hit consumers in cities.
Imtiaz Shaikh of PML-F said that the government claimed its budget was without any new taxes but the finance bill had paved the way for imposition of taxes. He expressed the fear that the tax-laden budget would fuel poverty and inflation in the province. He said that the budget was devoid of any major development or public welfare-oriented projects.
Irfanullah Khan Marwat of PML-N said that the government's taxation policy was based on dishonesty, saying that there was an "abundance" of taxes on the people, adding that taxes would affect everyone irrespective of their size of businesses or annual earnings. Syed Hafeezuddin of PTI agreed that the provincial budget "will fuel inflation just as much as the federal budget," adding that the federal budget had greatly eroded the purchasing power of the poor. He said that the government had not even spared internet users from tax, who largely used it for academic purposes.
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