Pakistan People Party to oppose Tax Amendment Bill

Pakistan People's Party Member of National Assembly Mirza Ikhtiar Baig on Monday (local time) said that his party would oppose the proposed Tax Amendment Bill, which aims to freeze the bank accounts of non-filers.

Baig revealed that the proposed bill restricts non-filers from transferring immovable property and threatens to confiscate their business properties under new provisions, ARY News reported.

Baig called the proposed laws "excessively harsh" and stated that his party would oppose them. According to ARY News, Baig suggested that this bill should be discussed in the Finance and Revenue Committees of the National Assembly.


Baig also pointed out that the category of "non-filers" was created by the government itself, and further, in a jibe, he questioned, "Would people soon need permission just to breathe?"

Further, according to ARY News, last week, after Pakistan's Senate body approved the tax amendment bill, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) announced that it had issued notices to around 169,000 influential individuals to bring them into the tax net.

The Tax Amendment Bill 2024, cleared by the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, aims at tightening regulations and curbing tax evasion, ARY said.

Speaking about Pakistan's slow internet services, Baig said that the country is lagging behind as the world has advanced to 5G, while Pakistan struggles with 4G, the report added.

Additionally, as per ARY News, Baig revealed that 22 IT companies had already left Pakistan due to slow internet speeds, leading to significant losses in the IT sector. Baig urged the government to take action to strengthen Pakistan's IT industry.

On December 23, Pakistan's Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Division, Syed Sajid Mehdi, suggested that Pakistanis "use the internet less" and restrict usage to "important matters only" to address frequent slowdowns in internet speed across the country, Dawn reported.

His comments come amid mounting frustrations over sluggish connectivity affecting users nationwide.

Further, the Dawn report stated that Pakistan has faced persistent connectivity issues, including slow download speeds on platforms like WhatsApp and intermittent internet outages.

The disruptions have sparked criticism from IT professionals, who are concerned about the broader implications of these problems on the country's technology sector.