ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Khan Tareen on Tuesday denied being a beneficiary of the sugar tax imposed by the federal government in its budget for the financial year 2019-20.
Addressing a press conference on Prime Minister’s Agriculture Emergency Programme along with Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Sahibzada Mohammad Mehboob Sultan, Tareen said that neither he nor the country’s sugar mills would benefit from the recently-imposed tax on sugar.
Responding to the reports of him being a beneficiary of the tax, he said that it is “big misconception which is being spread by the people”, adding that the revenue from the taxes would go to the government, not the private sector to which his business belongs.
When asked about his role in the incumbent government, he said that he does not hold an official position as the Supreme Court (SC) had barred him from holding a post. “However, if I am called for advice, I would definitely help the government,” he added.
It is worth mentioning here that Sultan had earlier announced that he had invited Tareen for the press conference.
In the budget for the financial year 2019-20, the federal government increased the tax on sugar from 11 per cent to 17 per cent, leading to an increase of Rs3.5 per kg. This prompted criticism from the people and the opposition, who said that the government only wanted to burden the suffering masses.
Former finance minister and PTI leader Asad Umar also asked the government to reconsider taxes on sugar and cooking oil, saying that it is unwise to impose tax on sugar given that the prices have already gone up. Besides, he added, the tax would not bring enough revenue for the government.
Tareen was disqualified on December 15, 2017, for the misdeclaration under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution — the same provision under which former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was held ineligible for life to hold any public office over the Panama Papers leaks case.
