17-05-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
9 bills including income tax, dumping duty passed by NA
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Friday passed nine bills including 'The Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2024 and The Anti-Dumping Duties (Amendment) Bill, 2025'.
The house passed, 'The Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2025'' bound a Civil Servant of BS-17 and above to declare his/her domestic and foreign assets, his/her spouse and dependent children.
There were two bills out of nine of private members' bills as agenda of the members took up by suspending the remaining business of the house through adopting a motion.
Opposition in NA blocks govt's Income Tax bill
The private members' bills are; 'The Trade Organizations (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025 of Syed Ali Qasim Gillani of PPP and The Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Bill, 2024 of Sharmila Faruqui of PPP.
The opposition particularly of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday blocked 'The Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2024' but today, the opposition neither strongly opposed nor protested against the legislation of the government.
The bills which were passed included: Income Tax Amendment Bill, 2024,the Anti-Dumping Duties Amendment Bill, 2025, Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Amendment Bill, 2024, the Extradition Amendment Bill, 2025, Pakistan Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2024, The Naturalization Amendment Bill, 2024, the Civil Servants Amendment Bill, 2025, The Trade Organizations (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025and The Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Bill, 2024.
The Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2024 is already in the field as the government had introduced it last year in the form of an ordinance.
The purpose of 'The Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2024' is to amend the Income Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024 in the National Assembly.
According to objects and reasons of the bill, the amendments are being introduced with immediate effect through an Ordinance, in order to remove difficulties faced by the taxpayer in implementation of higher tax rates on income from federal government securities on the basis of ADR ratio. Concomitantly, few counter measures have also been incorporated in this Ordinance to rationalize standard tax rate on whole of the business income of banking companies.
The purpose for passage of 'The Anti-Dumping Duties (Amendment) Bill, 2025' is made amendments in sub-section (1)through the Anti-Dumping Duties (Amendment) Act, 2022shall be deemed to have taken effect on and from the 1st day of July, 2020.
According to objects and reasons of the bill, Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives on the advice of Law and Justice Division conveyed to initiate further amendment in the subject Law to give retrospective effect to cover the period from the financial year 2020-21. In this regard it is submitted that two Chinese-grant-funded projects in Gwadar, (Pak-China Friendship Hospital' and 'New Gwadar International Airport') have been subjected to the Anti-dumping duties during FY 2020-21 and 2021-22.
The Chinese-grant-funding does not cater for such duties. The relevant department also does not have any provision for payment of these duties. It was therefore decided during the 'progress review meeting of Gwadar Projects held on 5thOctober 2022', that the amendment in the Anti-Dumping Act would be given retrospective effect (to cover the period from FY 2020-21).'
According to clause 02 'The Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2025, 'new section 15-A is inserted in the Civil Servants Act, 1973, 'Declaration of Assets;- the declaration of assets of a Civil Servant of BS-17 and above his spouse and dependent children, including domestic and foreign assets and liabilities, as may be prescribed, shall be digitally filed with the Federal Board of Revenue and same shall be publicly available, through Federal Board of Revenue in accordance with the rules as may be prescribed.'
According to 'The Trade Organizations (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025, under the Trade Organizations(Amendment) Act,2025, the two years' tenure for office bearers under sub-section (l) of section 11 shall apply only to those elected on or after the enactment of the trade organizations (Amendment) Act, 2025.
It is in the interest of the organizations and all trade bodies that the election to be conducted in accordance with the Trade Organizations (Amendment) Act,2022, to ensure the continued smooth operation of bodies established under the Act. This provision is disruptive to the smooth functioning of trade bodies, particularly the federation, chambers, and Association.
Therefore, it is essential to omit sub-section (1A) of section ll of the Trade Organizations Act, 2013, as inserted by the Trade Organizations (Amendment) Act, 2025, from the date of its enactment.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
