FBR asked IMF to impose tax on agriculture. The Prime Minister himself has said that FBR is a hotbed of corruption, it is the job of the Finance Ministry to talk to the IMF, provincial governments are not taken into confidence. Sindh Chief Minister's address in the Assembly
Monday, February 3, 2025
Karachi (News - 03 February 2025) Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is a hotbed of corruption, the FBR is not meeting its tax collection target, the FBR said that the agricultural sector does not pay taxes to cover up its shortcomings, the FBR asked the IMF to impose taxes on agriculture.
Speaking before the approval of the agricultural tax bill in the Sindh Assembly, he said that the federation told us that if the agricultural tax is not imposed within 2 to 4 days, the IMF team will not come to Pakistan, and the country will go bankrupt, that is why we are here today. Murad Ali Shah said that some people believe that imposing agricultural tax was our demand, then some also say something else. Just as the FBR failed to achieve its revenue target, similarly the Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) may also fall behind the target sometimes, but till date the SRB has achieved its targets since its establishment.
He said that in May last year, the federation had told us to give this agricultural tax to the FBR, the Prime Minister himself has said that the FBR is a hotbed of corruption, it is the job of the Finance Ministry to talk to the IMF, provincial governments are not taken into confidence, the FBR told the IMF to hide its failures that it does not pay taxes in one sector, it all started from there.
The Sindh Chief Minister said that such continuous talk has created the impression that there is no tax on the agriculture sector, however, it was there 20 years ago, but the rate was low. Murad Ali Shah said that the federation told us that we have discussed it, you sign it, the FBR will collect it, but we refused to accept this and said that this is a provincial matter, so it should remain with the province. The FBR is not able to collect its own taxes. We want the sales tax to be handed over to the provinces, but you are not giving it. He said that at this time the country's economy has improved, the inflation rate has decreased, everyone recognizes all this, we had no problem in improving the agricultural income tax but we are moving towards implementing it after careful consideration. The Sindh Chief Minister said that we are not part of the federal government but those who are in the government should also think, that they should not do this. You make promises and then put pressure on the provinces. The FBR gave the reason for imposing 45 percent tax that people evade taxes, so we increased the rate but this is not a solution, it means that they themselves are saying to evade taxes. Murad Shah said that instead of improving tax collection, increasing its rate is a wrong step. Many people present in this house, including me, pay agricultural tax very honestly, but I will not tell the figures. He also said that small farmers will not have a problem with agricultural tax. Whoever earns it will pay agricultural income tax. We are not happy with imposing taxes, but we have to impose taxes to run the government. Some people said that they are very happy with the imposition of this tax, but we should not be happy with the imposition of taxes. The Chief Minister of Sindh said that we are an agricultural country. In 2008, as soon as the PPP government came to power, Yousaf Raza Gilani increased the support price of wheat, after which surplus production of wheat was seen until 2015. Murad Ali Shah said that I am a landowner. I have 40 more families as partners who work hard on the land and share 50 percent of the profit. If I say that this is a loss-making business and I do any other work, then there will be a threat of food shortage in our country. No one thinks that if I work with my mind, I will leave the landownership. He said that we are given various titles like landlords and so on, but the facts are the opposite. If we talk about this topic, time will be short. We are not imposing agricultural tax in a hurry. We were told that if agricultural tax is not imposed within 2 to 4 days, the IMF team will not come to Pakistan, and the country will default. That is why we are here today. Murad Ali Shah said that the federal government has pushed us into a dead end by making decisions without consulting us, but the PPP is not in favor of harming the country.
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