For the forthcoming budget 2023–24, the government intends to maintain the General Sales Tax (GST) standard rate at 18%.
Instead of lowering the GST rate, the government is planning to raise withholding tax rates where they are relevant and have the potential to boost tax revenues. The government has thought about changes for retailers to increase revenue for taxes. In the previous two to three decades, all such initiatives to entice shops have utterly failed.
Different suggestions are being looked at to investigate the possibility of imposing Minimum Asset Tax (MAT) on both moveable and immovable assets, however the FBR authorities have been recommended to obtain the constitutionality of the proposed Minimum Asset Tax before moving forward.
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar presided over a meeting on budgetary plans provided by FBR on Monday at Finance Division, according to an official statement released by the Finance Ministry following the meeting. Tariq Bajwa, Tariq Mehmood Pasha, Minister for States for Finance and Revenue Dr. Ayesha Ghous Pasha, Chairman of the RRMC Ashfaq Yousuf Tola, Secretary for Finance, Chairman of the FBR, and other top executives from the Finance Division and FBR were present at the meeting.
Budgetary ideas for the Federal Budget 2023–2024 were presented and debated in depth by FBR Chairman Asim Ahmad. Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, the finance minister, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to presenting a budget that is both business- and consumer-friendly.
The official release concluded, “He further stated that the government is committed to ensuring that the new budget brings economic prosperity to all sectors of the economy and ensures the equitable distribution of resources among various sectors.”
The idea to tax exporters who hold back foreign currency in expectation of the rupee’s depreciation versus other currencies and then profit from their foreign exchange was one of several taxation measures that were discussed at the meeting. This gain can be calculated as the difference between the exchange rate in effect on the date the foreign currency is actually brought to Pakistan and the rate in effect after a certain number of days of export.
