ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Dr Jahanzeb Khan has said that the government will restore all tax exemptions available to the people of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata) in the next cabinet meeting
He told this to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, which led by PPP Senator Dr Farooq Naik, initiated the discussions on tax measures and proposed in the supplementary budget as announced by Finance Minister Asad Umar last week, with no apparent breakthrough on the issue of non-filers.
The FBR chairman testified before the committee that the original status related to exemptions, especially related to income tax and sales tax, will be restored in letter and spirit. “We will submit a summary to the cabinet in this regard,” Khan said.
But, Senator Khanzada Khan reminded the chairman that the tribals will not accept any change in the status of taxes in the tribal areas. However, the chairman assured the senators that, as per law, the status will be restored at the level of pre-mergers.
At the outset of the meeting, opposition senators, led by Haroon Akhtar Khan, Dr Musadiq Malik of PML-N and Talha Mehmood of JUI (F), questioned the government’s move over the retrospective implementation of the revised slabs.
