Finance Bill 2025 Grants 50+ Tax Exemptions

Islamabad, June 30, 2025 — The Finance Bill 2025-26, passed by parliament, introduces over 50 tax exemptions for numerous organizations, set to become an Act today [Monday] upon President Asif Ali Zardari’s assent, per a news report. Exemptions cover WAPDA corporatised entities (from creation to corporatisation completion), Prime Minister’s Special Fund for terrorism victims, Chief Minister’s (Punjab) Relief Fund for NWFP IDPs, National Disaster Risk Management Fund, Supreme Court’s Diamer Bhasha & Mohmand Dams Fund, Prime Minister’s COVID-19 Relief Fund-2020, and National Endowment Scholarship for Talent (NEST).

Also benefiting are the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Privatisation Commission, Fauji Foundation, Audit Oversight Board, Supreme Court Water Conservation Account, Balochistan Education Endowment Fund (BEEF), Army Welfare Trust, Public Private Partnership Authority, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Institute of Trauma, National Memorial Bab-e-Pakistan Trust, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, National Rural Support Programme, Karandaaz Pakistan (from tax year 2015), Agha Khan Development Network institutions, International Finance Corporation, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Saarc Energy Centre, Asian Development Bank, International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, Islamic Corporation for Development of Private Sector, ECO Trade and Development Bank, and Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OIC).

Further exemptions shield the pension of a former president and his widow, plus State Bank of Pakistan, State Bank of Pakistan Banking Services Corporation, Federal Board of Revenue Foundation, Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS), Saarc Arbitration Council (SARCO), International Parliamentarians’ Congress, and Army Officers Benevolent Fund, extending to Olympic medalists’ awards from tax year 2025. This move supports charitable, educational, and development entities while aiming for fiscal sustainability, building on prior FBR tax credits.

Web context notes Pakistan’s tax base issues (e.g., 0.8% taxpayers, web ID: 0), while posts found on X show mixed views—some praise support, others question revenue impact. Critically, the narrative of “fiscal balance” may mask tax inequity—web data points to narrow revenue, and X sentiment suggests distrust in fair distribution, hinting at potential backlash.