ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Wednesday said that legislation for imposition of tax on agriculture sector would be completed by January next year that would become effective for collection from July 1, 2025.
Talking to media here at the Parliament House after a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, the minister said position discussions were going on with China for re-profiling of energy sector debt. He hoped that a formal memorandum of understanding (MOU) would be signed soon to continue these talks with the Chinese side.
Meanwhile, Chairman Federal Board of Revenue said the number of income tax returns had more than doubled to four million and there would be no extension in the last date for filing of income tax returns. He said the government would start crackdown against non-filers next month on the basis of a large data set. He said the prime minister had issued strict instruction not to spare any tax thief and a full fledged action would bring more people into the tax net.
The meeting of the senate standing committee presided over by Senator Saleem H Mandviwalla passed unanimously, with certain amendments, the Government Bill titled “The Banking Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2024,” which was referred by the House on August 27, 2024. The committee had recommended that the decision of the SBP management against any financial entity or its board etc under the fit and proper criteria after passing through the SBP board for appeal should finally be referred to the finance minister for a review as the representative of the collective political wisdom of the parliament.
However, the finance minister said such suggestion would not be in line with the central bank’s autonomy and best governance structures. Some members were of the view that SBP Act had provided certain clauses that were beyond the autonomous status and should be reviewed. The finance minister suggested a broader amendment package which should look into this aspect and he would also like to remove restriction on dual nationality of top SBP executives, except in the case of governor. The committee agreed to the suggestion for a future legislation and approved the bill that also seeks to allow commercial banks to set up subsidiaries for microfinance banks under their corporate social responsibility besides providing indemnity to SBP officials from actions taken in good faith in terms of resolution of banking sector’s regulatory regime.
The committee addressed an issue regarding an illegal demand for payment of Rs 603,248,425 under Islamic Finance prior to the delivery of an asset (vehicle) by a commercial bank. The matter was resolved by the bank.
Additionally, the committee received a comprehensive briefing from the Karakoram Initiative on the concept of a “National Tax Authority.” The committee also heard from the Country Director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) about the bank’s projects in Pakistan and its role in the country’s socio-economic development. It was reported that ADB’s recent support for Pakistan included $802 million, $500 million for COVID-19 vaccines in 2020 and 2021, and $1.5 billion in commitments for recovery efforts from the 2022 floods.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024