KARACHI - Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has called for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to reduce the growing tax burden on the salaried class, citing disproportionate taxation and urging implementation of International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommendations for fairer tax reforms.
In a letter sent to the Prime Minister’s Office, MQM-P senior leader Senator Nasreen Jalil highlighted that despite being fully documented and tax-compliant, salaried individuals face some of the country’s heaviest tax deductions—up to 35 percent in higher income brackets, with an additional 10 percent surcharge.
“An individual earning Rs300,000 per month is now paying Rs45,833 in tax—up from Rs32,500 in 2020, a 41 percent increase,” Jalil noted. “This class contributed Rs368 billion in income tax in FY 2024, projected to rise to Rs530 billion in FY2025,” he maintained.
In contrast, she pointed out that the agriculture sector, which contributes 22 percent of the GDP, paid only Rs4 billion in taxes last year. The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) estimates that the sector has a tax capacity of up to Rs1.5 trillion.
Senator Jalil urged the government not to “sacrifice the IMF’s recommendation to ease the burden on the salaried class at the altar of expediency,” calling instead for a broader-based and more equitable tax policy.
