Overview
- LCCI’s leaders, who met Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Thursday, won a directive for the Tax Policy Office to examine their proposals and heard that FBR digitisation is being stepped up through PRAL to cut human contact.
- The Senate finance committee has compiled business recommendations for the budget and says it will push to abolish the Super Tax after complaints about bank account attachments and surcharge notices from the FBR.
- Chambers asked for lower electricity and gas tariffs, a return to a simple final tax regime for exporters, rationalised withholding and minimum taxes, and faster payment of refunds with new exporters added to the FASTER system.
- Sector groups sought targeted relief, including duty-free 5G equipment and lower telecom withholding, a GST cut on packaged dairy to 10%, removal of Super Tax and lower withholding for textiles, and a reduced excise rate on fruit juice.
- Industry leaders warned that operating costs are 22% to 30% above regional rivals and flagged misuse and new hurdles in the Export Facilitation Scheme, while concrete tax or tariff changes now hinge on budget negotiations.