National Assembly Passes Nine Bills, Including Key Amendments to Income Tax and Anti-Dumping Duties Laws

Strategic Insights -

The National Assembly on Friday made significant strides in its legislative agenda by passing nine bills, including key amendments to the income tax and anti-dumping duties laws. The bills, which also encompassed private members' proposals, saw a blend of government and private initiatives come to fruition. The session, chaired by Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf, aimed to address pressing issues related to taxation, public sector transparency, and trade organization operations.

Key Takeaways:

  • The 'Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2024' addresses issues faced by taxpayers regarding higher tax rates on income from federal government securities and aims to rationalize the tax rate on business income for banking companies.
  • The 'Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2025' introduces a new requirement for civil servants of BS-17 and above to declare their domestic and foreign assets, as well as those of their spouses and dependent children, to be filed digitally with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
  • The asset declarations will be made publicly available, marking a significant step towards enhancing transparency in the public sector.
  • The private members' bills, including the 'Trade Organizations (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025' and the 'Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Bill, 2024,' were also passed.
  • The 'Anti-Dumping Duties (Amendment) Bill, 2025' seeks to give retrospective effect to certain provisions of the Anti-Dumping Duties Act, 2022, with the intention of covering the period from the 2020-21 financial year.
  • This amendment focuses on Chinese-funded projects in Gwadar, including the Pak-China Friendship Hospital and the New Gwadar International Airport, which were subjected to anti-dumping duties during FY 2020-21 and 2021-22.
  • The government opted for a four-slab model rather than increasing the number of tariff slabs for the upcoming budget as proposed by the Ministry of Commerce.

Statistics:

  • The 'Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2025' aims to enhance transparency by requiring civil servants to declare their assets digitally with the FBR.
  • The 'Anti-Dumping Duties (Amendment) Bill, 2025' seeks to give retrospective effect to certain provisions of the Anti-Dumping Duties Act, 2022, effective from the 2020-21 financial year.
  • The four-slab model for tariff slabs was chosen over a proposal from the Ministry of Commerce to increase the number of slabs for the upcoming budget.

Sources:

  • National Assembly session, dated Friday, [no specific date mentioned]
  • The 'Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2024'
  • The 'Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2025'
  • The 'Trade Organizations (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025'
  • The 'Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Bill, 2024'
  • The 'Anti-Dumping Duties (Amendment) Bill, 2025'
  • Ministry of Commerce proposals for the upcoming budget