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A review committee of the Awami National Party (ANP) has suggested to its leadership to oppose the flood surcharge, but conditionally support the reformed general sales tax (RGST), which its coalition partner Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has proposed for augmentation of the exchequer.
Sources in the ANP told Dawn that the special committee, formed by party president Asfandyar Wali Khan under Senator Mohammad Adeel to review the new tax laws, had finalised its report. The report will be presented to the ANP chief after his return to the country.
The sources said the committee had recommended that the party should not support any government move to impose fresh levies on those already paying taxes.
The members feared that the proposed flood surcharge would bring more hardship for those the tax-burdened population and, therefore, the ANP should oppose it in the parliamentary standing committees as well as parliament.
The committee has prepared some proposals to be incorporated into the RGST bill as a condition for supporting the law.
One of the major demands is to levy property tax on armed forces personnel and other government officers living in cantonment areas.
The civilians living in cantonment areas are paying taxes, whereas the serving people have been given exemptions despite the fact they are using the same facilities, the sources quoted a member of the committee as having said at a meeting held on Nov 16 in Peshawar.
Like the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), another coalition partner, the ANP has also come out with a suggestion to impose tax on agricultural income.
When doctors, lawyers, engineers and other professionals are paying taxes on their income, then why the agriculturists and big landlords have been enjoying exemptions, the report says.
The ANP committee also opposed to the complicated mechanism given in the bill to collect the RGST, saying that it would discourage the traders who always shunned documentation formalities.
Is also opposed the too much powers given to the collectors to impose heavy fines on violators.
The ANP wants food items, education material and medicines exempted from the RGST.
Asfandyar Wali had set up the committee to suggest a course of action for the party after the presentation of the two taxation bills in parliament.
Senators Afrasiab Khattak and Ilyas Bilour, MNA Bushra Gauher and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain are its members.
Ilyas Bilour and Bushra Gauher are members of the standing committees of the Senate and National Assembly on finance, respectively.
Haji Adeel said the partys representatives in the standing committees had been given a policy guideline for the meetings scheduled from next week.
The government introduced the two bills in the National Assembly and the Senate on Nov 12, the last day of their previous sessions, amid noisy protests by the opposition members.
The Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, Ahmed Ali of the MQM which has also opposed the unpopular taxation proposals, has convened a three-day meeting from Nov 22 to review the bills.
It will be the first test for the government to stand its ground against its allies and the opposition who are all against the imposition of new taxes and have already announced that they not to support them in parliament.
The composition of the standing committees of the Senate and the National Assembly shows that it will be impossible for the Pakistan Peoples Party to get the bills through if all other parties decide to vote against them, instead of staging a walkout.
Sources in the ANP told Dawn that the special committee, formed by party president Asfandyar Wali Khan under Senator Mohammad Adeel to review the new tax laws, had finalised its report. The report will be presented to the ANP chief after his return to the country.
The sources said the committee had recommended that the party should not support any government move to impose fresh levies on those already paying taxes.
The members feared that the proposed flood surcharge would bring more hardship for those the tax-burdened population and, therefore, the ANP should oppose it in the parliamentary standing committees as well as parliament.
The committee has prepared some proposals to be incorporated into the RGST bill as a condition for supporting the law.
One of the major demands is to levy property tax on armed forces personnel and other government officers living in cantonment areas.
The civilians living in cantonment areas are paying taxes, whereas the serving people have been given exemptions despite the fact they are using the same facilities, the sources quoted a member of the committee as having said at a meeting held on Nov 16 in Peshawar.
Like the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), another coalition partner, the ANP has also come out with a suggestion to impose tax on agricultural income.
When doctors, lawyers, engineers and other professionals are paying taxes on their income, then why the agriculturists and big landlords have been enjoying exemptions, the report says.
The ANP committee also opposed to the complicated mechanism given in the bill to collect the RGST, saying that it would discourage the traders who always shunned documentation formalities.
Is also opposed the too much powers given to the collectors to impose heavy fines on violators.
The ANP wants food items, education material and medicines exempted from the RGST.
Asfandyar Wali had set up the committee to suggest a course of action for the party after the presentation of the two taxation bills in parliament.
Senators Afrasiab Khattak and Ilyas Bilour, MNA Bushra Gauher and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain are its members.
Ilyas Bilour and Bushra Gauher are members of the standing committees of the Senate and National Assembly on finance, respectively.
Haji Adeel said the partys representatives in the standing committees had been given a policy guideline for the meetings scheduled from next week.
The government introduced the two bills in the National Assembly and the Senate on Nov 12, the last day of their previous sessions, amid noisy protests by the opposition members.
The Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, Ahmed Ali of the MQM which has also opposed the unpopular taxation proposals, has convened a three-day meeting from Nov 22 to review the bills.
It will be the first test for the government to stand its ground against its allies and the opposition who are all against the imposition of new taxes and have already announced that they not to support them in parliament.
The composition of the standing committees of the Senate and the National Assembly shows that it will be impossible for the Pakistan Peoples Party to get the bills through if all other parties decide to vote against them, instead of staging a walkout.
