ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials have refuted claims of discontinuing income tax exemptions on a monthly income of Rs50,000.
They assured that these exemptions will stay in place.
They emphasized that the FBR is currently engaged in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and during these discussions, introducing new taxes and reconsidering taxes for the low-income people will not be on the table.
The FBR authorities clarified that the tax exemption for individuals earning Rs50,000 monthly will remain intact, and the exemption for those earning Rs600,000 annually will not be revoked.
They underscored that there are no ongoing deliberations or proposals aimed at withdrawing this tax exemption and the World Bank (WB) has not put forward any recommendations to lower the existing threshold of Rs600,000.
Furthermore, the officials pointed out that the imposition of taxes on income derived from the agricultural sector falls under the jurisdiction of the provincial governments and is not within the purview of the FBR.
Earlier today, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced its decision to maintain the key policy rate at 22% in the latest monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting.
This move comes in the wake of an IMF review and amidst various economic factors influencing the decision.
The SBP released a press statement stating that the MPC recognized that headline inflation had risen in September 2023 as anticipated.
However, the central bank projected a decline in inflation for October and expected it to continue on a downward trajectory, especially in the latter half of the fiscal year.
