Decision to end all tax exemptions to achieve the tax targets, 2100 billion has been kept in the budget for defense
Web Desk (Wednesday, June 12, 2024)
The federal budget of 18 thousand billion rupees will be presented in the National Assembly today, Wednesday, in which 10 to 15 percent increase in the salaries of government employees is expected, while 2100 billion has been kept in the budget for defense.
The estimated cost for interest ratio and and debt payments is fiqured at Rs 9.5 trillion while with the end of sales tax exemption, additional taxes will be imposed. Proposals for sales tax, withholding tax and customs duties on most goods are likely to increase.
The target of tax collection is proposed to be fixed at Rs 12.9 trillion, to get additional revenue of Rs 2 trillion, there is a possibility of increasing other taxes including 5 percent sales tax on petroleum products, one percent increase in GST and an elimination of unnecessary tax exemptions is also on the cards by the government.
The target of receiving more than 1050 billion rupees in the form of petroleum levy is proposed. The proposal to remove all unnecessary sales tax exemptions in the budget is expected to generate additional revenue of five and a half billion rupees.
Sales tax will be levied on agricultural products, seeds, fertiliser, tractors and other equipment, while 10% sales tax has been proposed on food, medicine and stationery. It is proposed to allocate 800 billion rupees for subsidies in the energy sector.
Under the pension reforms, a voluntary contributory pension system is likely to be introduced for newly recruited employees while retiring employees are proposed to be given pension for 20 years instead of lifetime.
The duration of family pension of employees is 10 to 15 years, while the daughter’s pension is also likely to be terminated and commutation reduced.
Besides, according to the document, 827 billion rupees have been earmarked for infrastructure, 253 billion rupees for energy, 279 billion rupees for transport and communication, 206 billion rupees for water projects, 280 billion rupees for social sector, and 45 billion rupees for health.
According to the budget document 2024-25, in the upcoming budget, Rs 93 billion for education and higher education, Rs 75 billion for SDGs, Rs 42 billion for agriculture, Rs 28 billion for governance, Rs 79 billion for science and IT, Rs 64 billion for merged districts in KP and Rs. 75 billion rupees have been earmarked for Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan