Pakistan finance bill proposes to raise GST rate to 18% from 17%

Pakistan finance bill proposes to raise GST rate to 18% from 17%

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan laid a supplementary finance bill before parliament on Wednesday, proposing to raise the goods and services tax to 18% from 17% as part of efforts to raise 170 billion rupees ($639 million) in extra revenue during the current fiscal year ending July.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar laid the proposals before parliament as the economic crisis-hit country continues negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of critical bailout funds.

The bill also proposed to raise taxes on luxury items, first and business class air travel, cigarettes among other things.

($1 = 266.1900 Pakistani rupees)

(Reporting by Ariba Shahid and Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam, writing by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Jon Boyle)