PPP Backs Budget After Govt Limits FBR Arrest Powers to Sales Tax Forgery
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari announced on Thursday that his party is fully supporting the federal budget after the government accepted key PPP demands — including exempting income tax for salaried individuals earning up to Rs100,000 per month and reducing sales tax on solar panels.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, Bilawal confirmed that the government agreed to exempt annual salaries of up to Rs1.2 million from income tax at the PPP’s request.
He added that the government also addressed the PPP’s concerns regarding the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) powers of arrest. The FBR’s arrest authority will now be limited solely to cases of sales tax forgery, and no arrests will be made during the inquiry stage. Tax fraud will also be classified as a bailable offense.
Earlier, The Express Tribune reported that the PPP had initially withheld support for the bill over the proposed arrest powers for the FBR. However, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar succeeded in persuading the party to drop its objections. Dar later told media that new safeguards were included in the Finance Act to address these concerns.
Bilawal noted that while the PPP originally demanded no tax on annual incomes up to Rs1 million, the government ultimately agreed to raise the exemption threshold to Rs1.2 million. He also highlighted that, at the PPP’s urging, the government increased the budget for the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) by 20%, allocating Rs716 billion for the coming fiscal year.
