This was revealed during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, chaired by MNA Naveed Qamar. Officials from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) presented a comparative chart highlighting changes made to the Finance Bill 2025-26, based on recommendations from the Senate and the committee itself.

FBR Chairman informed the committee that the tax on imported solar panels has been reduced from the proposed 18% to 10%. Additionally, the government has approved a 10% salary hike for federal employees, compared to the initial proposal of 6%. These relief measures have resulted in a revenue shortfall, prompting the need for new taxation plans.

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To offset this gap, the government has proposed three major tax measures. These include an Rs10 federal excise duty on day-old chicks in the poultry sector, a 29% tax on profits from mutual funds for companies, and a 20% tax on income from government securities. The FBR Chairman stated that these proposals were shared with the IMF as part of an alternative revenue plan.

He warned that without these compensatory taxes, the government would have no choice but to reintroduce the full 18% GST on solar panels. The committee reviewed the proposals and recommended that the Finance Bill, with all suggested amendments, be passed by the National Assembly.

However, members from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) submitted a note of dissent, raising objections to the newly proposed tax measures.