Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's (KP) Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra presented the province's Rs. 900 billion (Pakistan rupee) budget for 2019-2020 at the KP assembly here on Tuesday, amidst protests by the opposition.
Rs. 236 billion have been earmarked annually for development programmes in the latest budget, according to Dawn.
The Opposition waged protests as the budget speech was being delivered at the assembly here against the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)-led central government's failure at issuing production orders for Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chief Asif Ali Zardari.
The provincial income taxes are being increased as per the budget speech. Individuals who earn Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 30,000 per month would have to set aside Rs. 1,000 towards taxes on a monthly basis.
Furthermore, individuals with a monthly income falling between Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 50,000 would be required to pay a tax of Rs. 1,200/month. A Rs. 1,500 tax has been proposed for those earning between Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 1,00,000, while individuals earning between Rs. 1,00,000 and Rs. 2,00,000 per month would be required to pay Rs. 2,000 as taxes per month.
Those whose salary falls between Rs. 2,00,001 to half a million rupees would have to shell out Rs. 3,000 as tax per month, while those earning more than half a million rupees have been proposed to pay Rs. 5,000.
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Meanwhile, the salaries of public sector employees from grade one to 16 will see a 10 per cent hike while grade 17-grade 19 employees'salaries would go up by five per cent under an ad hoc relief allowance, Dawn reported.
Zero taxation for grade one to six employees of the provincial government has been proposed in the latest budget by the KP government.
The Pakistani daily reported that public sector employees from grade seven to 12 would have to pay Rs. 1,000 per month in taxes, grade 13 to 17 employees would have to cough up Rs. 1,500 tax per month, while grade 18 employees would have to set aside Rs. 1,800 monthly towards taxes. Grade 19 and 20 officers, meanwhile, would have to give Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 3,000 respectively on a monthly basis as taxes.
As per the budget speech, tailors who stitch shalwar kameez suits will have to shell out Rs. 10,000 as taxes annually, while those who stitch trousers and shirts will pay Rs. 15,000 per year.
The rate of taxation on private companies and businesses is also proposed to go up. Businesses worth Rs. 10 million to Rs. 200 million may have to pay anywhere between Rs. 27,000 to Rs. 1,00,000 annually according to the latest budget.
While unveiling the budget, Jhagra announced that the Insaf health card will be issued to every family in the province. He also revealed that 21,000 jobs in the public sector would be created.