Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari announced on Thursday that the federal government has accepted several of the party’s key demands in relation to the Finance Bill, including tax relief for salaried individuals and limitations on the powers of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
As per Express Tribune, Bilawal said that the government had agreed to exempt salaried individuals earning up to Rs100,000 per month—equivalent to Rs1.2 million annually—from income tax. He said this exemption was granted in response to the PPP’s specific demand to provide relief to middle-income earners.
Addressing another major concern, Bilawal said the government had revised its proposal regarding arrest powers for the FBR. The PPP had raised strong objections to the provision that would have allowed the FBR to arrest individuals without due process.
According to Bilawal, the government has now agreed that arrest powers will be restricted exclusively to cases of sales tax fraud, and even then, arrests will not be permitted during the initial inquiry phase. Furthermore, such offenses will be considered bailable.
The PPP chairperson welcomed these developments, framing them as steps toward economic justice and social protection, and credited sustained party efforts for securing these concessions in the final version of the budget.
