ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan has assured the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it will take Rs200 billion worth of additional tax measures in January to compensate any slippages in the budget surplus by increasing the income tax rates on landline and mobile phones and cash withdrawals from banks.

The measures will only be triggered following lower-than-targeted revenues and higher-than-agreed expenses in July-December of the current fiscal year, according to the Pakistani authorities.

Government sources told The Express Tribune that other measures, which were part of the contingency plan, included increase in sales tax on solar panels and expanding the web of federal excise duty (FED) to confectioneries and biscuits.

Tax authorities said that the choice for the government was between incre

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