List of items that will experience a price hike if mini-budget is approved

The incumbent government introduced a mini-budget in the federal assembly proposing to raise the prices of common commodities and 140 consumable and industrial goods.

It would supposedly help the government to cover the tax exemptions of Rs 350 billion. To accommodate that, the public would be required to pay an added 17% GST on daily-use items ranging from mobile, stationary items, packaged foods, cosmetics, imported cards, computers, tablets, and others.

However, this jump from 12.5% sales tax to a 17% tax has been rejected by the Pakistan people party (PPP), saying it would further intensify the challenges posed by inflation.

Below is a quick breakdown of all the items that will experience a price hike, as mentioned in the Mini-budget Supplementary Finance Bill.

• A tax imposition of 17% on food items, medicine, sweet shops, served in-flight kitchen, sausages, poultry products.
• Imposition of tax on foreign-produced TV dramas and serials of all local and international actors from other countries. – PKR 3mn per episode.
• 5% tax on service-based shops like fitness centers, laundry, beauty salons, travel agencies, industrial machinery, automobile workshops, etc.
• All the sachets-packed products will have a tax of 17% against the previous 8%.
• The imported vegetables and flour mills will be subjected to a GST of 10%.
• The import of oilseeds will experience a tax imposition of 5%-17%.
• Silver and Gold GST will see an increase from the previous 1% to 17%.
• 17% GST will be subjected to seeds, plants, tools, and chemicals of the agricultural products.
• 5% tax to be applied on imported laptops, personal computers, and notebooks.
• Further 17% GST tax to be applied on cottonseed.

Telecommunication and Information Technology:

• Increase in income tax on cellular services, mobile phone calls from 10% to 15%.
• The finance bill proposes an increase of 5% withholding tax (WHT) on telecom services.

Automobile assemblers and parts manufacturers:

• Increase in sales tax on batteries from 12% to 17%.
• 5% tax on car/automobile dealers in ICT.
• All hybrid electric vehicles of 1800cc will have a 17% GST.

Pharmaceutical:

• 17% of GST imposed at the import stage on raw materials of medicine.

Food and Diary:

• All the branded packaging items available in restaurants and sweet shops will have a 17% GST.
• Animals, livestock, and poultry machinery will have a 17% sales tax.
• Imported instant formula milk isn’t subjected to any GST right now but will witness a 17% sales tax after the bill.

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