Overview
- Government sources detailed proposals targeting non-filers and household transactions, including a potential rise in the cash‑withdrawal withholding rate to 1.5% that could raise about Rs30 billion annually.
- Other options shared with IMF staff include lifting landline and mobile withholding taxes to 12.5% and 17.5%, respectively, with a combined revenue estimate of roughly Rs44 billion.
- The menu also considers increasing sales tax on solar panels from 10% to 18% and imposing a 16% federal excise duty on confectioneries and biscuits, projected at about Rs70 billion a year.
- The Federal Board of Revenue recorded a Rs276 billion shortfall in July–October after an earlier Rs198 billion gap in the first quarter, as the IMF allowed a Rs197 billion trimming of the annual target during review talks.
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed a study on lowering elevated income and sales tax rates to stem corporate departures and workforce outflows, even as authorities plan Rs200 billion in contingent steps with roughly half the take expected in January–June 2026 if triggered.