In a major development, a national committee of the National Assembly linked the approval of legal amendments on Thursday to prohibit economic transactions by unacceptable persons to the capacity of the tax machinery to develop an independent and credible online platform to determine the actual value of the assets of people. The condition one day came after the Minister of Finance, Muhammad Aurangzeb, said that the government may have to take 500 billion rupees for additional tax measures, if the National Assembly does not approve of the law to prohibit economic transactions. The Committee would not adopt changes related to economic transactions until the members are convinced that the Federal Board of Return has developed an independent and reliable online platform to assess people’s assets, said the Chairman of the Standing Finance Committee, Syed Naveed Qamar. The government proposed that only people can buy cars, plots, invest in securities that have enough white legal resources declared to buy these assets and maintain bank accounts, the Minister of Finance again reiterated Thursday that the IMF accepted RS389 billion in the collections due to the improved application during the next budget year and that the new legal powers were necessary. The Standing Finance Committee of the National Assembly had linked last month to the approval of the bill to prohibit economic transactions with the government’s capacity to develop a credible online mechanism where the eligibility criterion can be determined and verified independently without harassment by taxes. The MNA of PPP Mirza Ikhtiar Baig raised the question of the evaluation of the credibility of the new platform first to ensure that taxpayers are not harassed by the FBR. The finance secretary, Imdad Ullah Bosal, announced in the committee that the government had decided to give a special allowance of 50% to all the officers of the armed forces and 20% to other soldiers, in a decision that recognizes their contributions to defend the nation. This brings to 60% the total increase in the wages of the officers of the armed forces and 30% for the other soldiers after having incorporated the impact of the regular increase in their wages announced on June 10. The announcement was made before the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Finance and Revenues that started discussions on the 2026 financing bill on Thursday, which is the real budget. The government has granted a particular rescue allowance equal to 50% of the basic remuneration scale to officers and 20% to the officers and soldiers of the students’ order, the Secretary Finance said. The head of the opposition to the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan, who is also a member of the Standing Committee, asked questions about the budget impact of special relief.
Taxman has said to improve skills
