FBR denies end of income tax exemption for Rs50,000 salary

Islamabad: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Thursday refused to end income tax exemption for those earning up to Rs50,000 per month.

According to details, good news has come out for low-income employees and entrepreneurs as FBR has denied ending income tax exemption for those earning up to Rs50,000 per month.

According to the report, the speculation of imposing income tax on those earning up to Rs0.6 million per annum has come to an end. The FBR has dismissed the rumors of withdrawing tax exemption from the small class as baseless.

FBR's explanatory statement said: “There is no policy or proposal under consideration to withdraw tax exemption from those earning Rs50,000 per month and the World Bank has not made any such demand”.

The FBR also openly stated its position on whether or not to impose agricultural tax. Officials said that the implementation of tax on agricultural income is a provincial matter, however it is unfortunate that the provinces are not able to collect legitimate tax on agricultural income.

With reference to tax returns, it was informed that the number of filers has increased to two million, but it is much less than the set target.

According to FBR, 65% of the country's population is below 30 years of age, of which 50% are women. 30% to 40% of the population is employed in agriculture, and the tax-to-GDP ratio is barely 10%.

The authorities stated that the tax gap can be eliminated only if up to 1.5 million more people pay tax.