A meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue was held under the chairmanship of Senator Saleem Mandviwala at Parliament House today, where the committee members deferred the matter of imposing a 10 percent income tax on bonus shares for listed and non-listed companies.

The committee deferred discussion on the budget proposal to levy a 10 percent tax on bonus shares after receiving a briefing on the matter from an official of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI).

The Faisalabad Chamber official asked the committee to take notice of how the tax regime was putting pressure on the corporate sector. In this situation, the fundamental issue with reference to the matter under consideration called for the super tax to be maintained at 4 percent instead of taking it up to 10 percent in the upcoming fiscal year, the official said.

He further argued that bonus share encashment is already taxed as per law, while the corporate sector is taxed at a hefty rate of 46 percent.

The committee members agreed with suggestions made by the FCCI representative and deferred the budget proposal for imposing a 10 percent income tax on bonus shares for listed and non-listed companies.

Meanwhile, a delegation from the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) briefed the committee on more issues in the fiscal year 2023-24 budget. They argued that no actions had been taken to address problems faced by the industry in the budget.

They said letters of credit are not opening and the 25 percent interest rate has made business dealings a dismal affair. Costs have skyrocketed and businesses can no longer function at the current markup rate, they added.

Source: Pro Pakistani