IMF talks: Pakistan “agrees” to impose a tax on income from agriculture

For the new lending plan, representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistan’s provinces conducted virtual negotiations.

The provinces of Pakistan apparently agreed to impose a tax on agricultural income, as reported by sources who indicated that IMF officials pressed the provincial government to do.

All four of Pakistan’s provinces’ provincial governments requested more time to present a proposal for a tax on agricultural revenue. By July 12th, the plan would be delivered to the IMF.

The sources went on to state that the Rs 600,000 annual income will be subject to an agriculture income tax.

Continue reading: Pakistan “hopes to secure” a new loan programme from the IMF in July.

The sources stated that the global lender has set October 2024 as the deadline for changing the current provincial legislation to align them with the federal income tax law, subject to the new agreement being signed. Furthermore, by October of this year, the IMF has requested that all income tax exemptions for the livestock industry be revoked.

It should be mentioned that representatives of the finance ministry expect to finalise an agreement for the new loan programme in July. The precise budget for the new initiative is still being determined, but it is anticipated to cost between $6 billion and $8 billion.

Three years are anticipated to pass during the new loan programme with the IMF.

The Federal Budget, which has an overall expenditure of Rs18,870 billion, was adopted by the National Assembly (NA) on July 28 for the fiscal year 2024–25.