National Assembly Finally Passes Finance Bill 2021 Into Law

The National Assembly (NA) has passed the contentious Finance (Supplementary) Bill, sometimes known as the “mini-budget,” in the penultimate hour of the day, in a longer session with fierce resistance from opposition benches. The NA approved the government’s revisions to the proposed bill. MQM MNA Kishwar Zahra also proposed revisions to the finance bill, to which the finance minister responded that most of the demands had been met. The MQM MNA responded by thanking the premier and foreign minister and withdrawing the amendments. It was informed that small stores will not be taxed on bread, chapattis, sheermal, naans, vermicelli, buns, and rusk, according to revisions made by the government to Clause 3 of the law. The sale of these items will be taxed at tier-one merchants, restaurants, food chains, and sweet shops. Domestic and hybrid cars at 1,800 cc will be subject to an 8.5 percent sales tax. Hybrid vehicles from 1,801 to 2,500 cc will be subject to a 12.75 percent tax, while imported electric vehicles would be subject to a 12.5 percent levy. A 200g carton of milk would not be subject to general sales tax, while formula milk worth more than Rs. 500 will be subject to a 17 percent GST. Imported car taxes were also raised from 5 percent to 12.5 percent as a result of the amendments. All imported automobiles will be subject to the same federal excise duty. The duty on locally built 1,300 cc automobiles will be 2.5 percent, down from the 5 percent recommended earlier and accepted during the session. The tariff on domestically locally 1,300 to 2,000 cc cars was also decreased from 10 percent to 5 percent. Locally made cars with displacements of more than 2,100 cc will face a 10% duty. Likewise, Clauses 5 and 6 of the government’s amendments were accepted.