Small traders get simplified tax scheme

The Express Tribune reported that Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kiyani told the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Saturday that the government has eased tax pressure on companies, exporters, salaried workers and small shopkeepers. Super tax was scrapped for exporters and for firms with yearly income from Rs150 million to Rs500 million, while the rate for companies earning above Rs500 million fell from 10% to 8%.

The new simplified tax scheme is aimed at small traders with yearly sales of as much as Rs200 million, and joining is optional for them. Participants would generally avoid routine audits based only on differences from earlier years, though a clear, unusual discrepancy flagged through CRM or third-party data could still trigger one. They would also get a physical FBR plate to display outside their shops, and would not have to become withholding agents or install POS machines.

Exporters had previously been charged 2% on export proceeds, split equally between advance income tax and minimum tax, and that charge is now 1.25%. Kiyani also said a centralised, faceless audit and assessment model is replacing RTO-level handling to limit discretion and collusion. LCCI President Faheemur Rehman Saigol welcomed the relief but said high electricity tariffs, enforcement actions and the conversion of farmland into housing schemes remain major concerns.