Govt’s claim of tax-free budget a lie: Ishaq Dar

LAHORE: Former finance minister Ishaq Dar has slammed the claim of the federal government of introducing a tax-free budget.

In a tweet on Monday, the former finance minister termed the government’s tax-free budget a ‘lie’. 

Govt’s claim of tax-free budget is a lie as it has planned Petroleum Levy(PL)of Rs450B in FY21 against Rs260B in FY20,an increase of 73%.PMLN levied Rs179B PL in FY18;151% less than PTI.Will IK apologise for political hue&cry of past in the name of oppressive taxation through PL?

— Ishaq Dar (@MIshaqDar50) June 29, 2020

“Govt’s claim of the tax-free budget is a lie as it has planned Petroleum Levy (PL) of Rs. 450B in FY-21 against Rs. 260B in FY-20, an increase of 73 percent. PMLN levied Rs.179B PL in FY-18;151 percent less than PTI. Will IK apologize for political hue and cry of past in the name of oppressive taxation through PL?” Ishaq Dar wrote.

According to Dar, the incumbent government planned Petroleum Levy of Rs. 450B in FY-21 against Rs. 260B in FY-20. That means the PL was increased by 73 percent, he added.

However, the PMLN levied Rs.179B PL in FY-18;151 percent less than PTI, Dar claimed in a tweet. “Will the prime minister apologize for political hue, the former minister asked.

Earlier, Dar said that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that was 1.2 percent in the Fiscal year 2020 was a big disaster.

He further said that Prime the incumbent government must confirm or contradict High Profits’ GDP was 1.9 percent information against the government declared 3.3 percent for FY2019.