Grappling with provincial reforms

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) considers the passage of the law for the introduction of agricultural income tax by all four provincial assemblies a landmark step and says that the Fund and Pakistan have agreed that a lot needs to be done on the ground for effective recoveries starting next year’s budget. The two sides will remain engaged over the next couple of months to address technical and procedural hiccups in aligning the four sub-federations. In earlier briefings, IMF officials admitted that the progress in collecting agricultural income tax (AIT) would be gradual. According to a media report, the IMF mission was now more interested in the way forward on AIT collection and was engaging with provinces individually and jointly for clarity.