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Govt starts taxing all bank transactions

Govt starts taxing all bank transactions

Express Tribune7 hours ago
At high tax rates, profit margins for sellers decrease, leaving them with options to pass on the burden to consumers, compromise on the quality of products, evade taxes or find cheaper illicit goods. photo: file
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The federal government has started collecting taxes on all types of bank transactions for both filers and non-filers from July 1. The government has increased the tax rate for non-filers on cash withdrawals from banks, while filers are also subject to withholding tax for withdrawals exceeding Rs50,000 per day.
According to the new tax regime, filers will be charged 0.3% tax on withdrawals exceeding Rs50,000 per day, while non-filers will be charged 0.6%. Furthermore, banks have increased their charges, including ATM card fees, SMS alert fees, and fees for using other banks' ATMs. These additional charges have led to disputes between bank customers and staff, with many expressing frustration over the increased costs.
As the banks revised their schedule of charges effective July 1, customers are facing double the burden in respect to increased costs. The ATM usage fee for other banks' customers has been revised from Rs18 to Rs34 per transaction. Additionally, the ATM card fee has been increased by Rs700, and the SMS alert service fee has been hiked from Rs1,200 to Rs2,000, a rise of Rs800.
Non-filers will also face a deduction of Rs522 for cash withdrawals of Rs20,000 or more through a cheque. Furthermore, banks have set daily withdrawal limits for ATM users, with standard debit card holders able to withdraw up to Rs25,000 to Rs50,000 per day, premium card holders up to Rs500,000 per day, and foreign debit card holders the equivalent of $200 to $500 per day. The tax deduction will be automatic for transactions exceeding Rs50,000 per day.
In addition to the existing charges, banks will now deduct fees for international ATM transactions based on either the exchange rate or a fixed fee set by the bank.
The disputes have prompted banks to approach 1Link for revising the schedule of charges. Banks claim that these changes will impact banking transactions and promote a cash economy. The increased charges and tax rates have sparked frustration among bank customers, leading to a rise in conflicts with bank staff.
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Govt starts taxing all bank transactions
Govt starts taxing all bank transactions

Express Tribune

time7 hours ago

  • Express Tribune

Govt starts taxing all bank transactions

At high tax rates, profit margins for sellers decrease, leaving them with options to pass on the burden to consumers, compromise on the quality of products, evade taxes or find cheaper illicit goods. photo: file Listen to article The federal government has started collecting taxes on all types of bank transactions for both filers and non-filers from July 1. The government has increased the tax rate for non-filers on cash withdrawals from banks, while filers are also subject to withholding tax for withdrawals exceeding Rs50,000 per day. According to the new tax regime, filers will be charged 0.3% tax on withdrawals exceeding Rs50,000 per day, while non-filers will be charged 0.6%. Furthermore, banks have increased their charges, including ATM card fees, SMS alert fees, and fees for using other banks' ATMs. These additional charges have led to disputes between bank customers and staff, with many expressing frustration over the increased costs. As the banks revised their schedule of charges effective July 1, customers are facing double the burden in respect to increased costs. The ATM usage fee for other banks' customers has been revised from Rs18 to Rs34 per transaction. Additionally, the ATM card fee has been increased by Rs700, and the SMS alert service fee has been hiked from Rs1,200 to Rs2,000, a rise of Rs800. Non-filers will also face a deduction of Rs522 for cash withdrawals of Rs20,000 or more through a cheque. Furthermore, banks have set daily withdrawal limits for ATM users, with standard debit card holders able to withdraw up to Rs25,000 to Rs50,000 per day, premium card holders up to Rs500,000 per day, and foreign debit card holders the equivalent of $200 to $500 per day. The tax deduction will be automatic for transactions exceeding Rs50,000 per day. In addition to the existing charges, banks will now deduct fees for international ATM transactions based on either the exchange rate or a fixed fee set by the bank. The disputes have prompted banks to approach 1Link for revising the schedule of charges. Banks claim that these changes will impact banking transactions and promote a cash economy. The increased charges and tax rates have sparked frustration among bank customers, leading to a rise in conflicts with bank staff.

Foreign exchange reserves near $20b
Foreign exchange reserves near $20b

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Foreign exchange reserves near $20b

Delay in loans will not adversely affect Pakistan's external sector position in the short term due to $16 billion in gross foreign exchange reserves. PHOTO: FILE Listen to article Just two years ago, Pakistan struggled to cover even a few weeks of import and export payments. Now, the country's external position has shown a significant turnaround, with total liquid foreign exchange reserves reaching $19.87 billion amid improved inflows and growing political stability. According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank surged to $14.51 billion, marking a sharp year-on-year increase of $5.12 billion, or 54.5%, from $9.39 billion a year earlier. The SBP attributed the rise in reserves to the realisation of inflows including $3.1 billion in commercial loans and over $500 million from multilateral institutions during the final week of June. "This reflects a noticeable improvement in the country's current account balance and realisation of planned inflows during the year," the SBP stated. During the week ending June 27, 2025, SBP's reserves rose by $3.66 billion, climbing to $12.73 billion from $9.06 billion reported the previous week. Total liquid reserves now stand at $19.87 billion, with commercial banks holding $5.36 billion. The dramatic recovery in the last week of FY25 followed a $2.66 billion drop the week before, driven by external debt repayments. The rebound is seen as a result of stabilisation efforts and fiscal reforms aimed at supporting the external account. This rise in reserves is expected to support the rupee, improve import cover, and strengthen Pakistan's position in future talks with international lenders. The Pakistani rupee showed a slight gain against the US dollar in the interbank market on Thursday, appreciating by 0.03% to close at 283.86, up 9 paisas from the previous day's closing rate of 283.95. Meanwhile, domestic gold prices rose on Thursday despite a 1% decline in the international bullion market following stronger-than-expected US payroll data, which dampened expectations of an early rate cut by the US Federal Reserve. According to the All-Pakistan Gems and Jewellers Sarafa Association (APGJSA), the price of 24-karat gold per tola increased by Rs800 to Rs357,000. The 10-gram gold price also rose by Rs685 to settle at Rs306,069. This followed a dip in prices a day earlier, when the per tola rate dropped by Rs600 to Rs356,200. Despite local gains, international sentiment remained bearish. Adnan Agar, Director at Interactive Commodities, said gold traded between $3,311 and $3,363 globally, with prices hovering around $3,325. He noted a key support level between $3,310 and $3,300, warning that a break below this range could push prices down to $3,250. He added that due to the US bank holiday on Friday, trading volumes were expected to remain low, with significant activity likely to resume on Monday.

Tax targets missed again
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EDITORIAL: As had long been anticipated, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) missed its tax collection goal for FY2024-25, collecting Rs11.7 trillion in revenue against an original target of Rs12.9 trillion. The FBR's faltering performance during the year prompted two downward revisions of this target — first to Rs12.3 trillion, then to Rs11.9 trillion. In the end, the FBR missed the initial projection by over Rs1 trillion, and even the final, softened figure by Rs163 billion. These serial downward revisions and repeated misses signal more than just miscalculations by the tax bureaucracy and economic managers, although those are also troubling in their own right. More fundamentally, they expose a systemic failure to reform the chronic failings that lie at the heart of the country's tax architecture. The revenue targets were missed despite the imposition of exorbitant tax rates on salaried individuals and the corporate sector, the taxing of almost all essential consumable items, and the FBR upgrading its digital infrastructure, launching anti-smuggling operations and introducing additional tax measures worth a massive Rs1.3 trillion during the course of the year. In the end, its lacklustre performance also meant missing the IMF-set tax-to-GDP target of 10.6 percent. Even so, it's important to acknowledge that despite missing its collection goal, the FBR still generated revenue 26 percent higher than the previous year's, suggesting that part of the problem lay in setting an overly ambitious target. Annual tax objectives rely on making certain basic assumptions about key economic indicators, including the GDP growth rate, interest rates, inflation and anticipated policy outcomes, including those tied to the IMF programme. When these assumptions are misjudged, the resulting revenue expectations inevitably become skewed. In this case, too, FBR officials have cited overly optimistic projections of import volumes, inflationary pressures and high economic growth — all of which failed to materialise — as key reasons behind the shortfall. However, beyond the miscalculation of targets and economic indicators lie foundational shortcomings in the country's fiscal framework, most crucially, a chronically narrow tax base. The system continues to disproportionately burden the salaried class and the corporate sector — which together contributed a significant Rs5.8 trillion to the national coffers in FY2024-25 — as well as low- to middle-income groups. Meanwhile, large and often more profitable sectors — retail, agriculture and real estate, among others — remain either under-taxed or entirely outside the net. Genuine political will and the policy acumen required to address this imbalance meaningfully remain woefully lacking. The over-reliance on ever-rising tax rates and aggressive taxation measures by the FBR have meant that over time Pakistan has begun to mirror high-tax Scandinavian economies in terms of rates, but without offering the public comparable public services, social protections or institutional accountability that typically justifies such taxation burdens. The reforms needed to address the narrow tax base — such as bringing the vast retail and wholesale sectors into the net — remain largely unimplemented. Meaningful agricultural taxation, now being introduced not out of political will but under pressure from the IMF, is another case in point. There is only so much that can be extracted from the same segments of the population; beyond a certain threshold, higher tax rates simply incentivise evasion rather than improving compliance. When last year's collection target was set, the then FBR chairman, Amjad Zubair Tiwana, had cautioned that revenue was unlikely to exceed Rs11.8 trillion, the one forecast that proved accurate. This suggests that there is awareness at the top of the system's limitations, yet consequential reforms remain absent. Instead, the focus remains on introducing additional, often aggressive tax measures and expanding the FBR's coercive powers to squeeze more from the same outstretched sources. Until the political will, administrative capacity, effective policymaking and institutional accountability to broaden the tax base materialise, these cycles of overreach and underperformance will persist. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025

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