KARACHI: The Sindh government is going to charge a three per cent sales tax on educational institutions whose annual fee is more than Rs500,000, it has emerged.

Likewise, private hospitals that charge Rs25,000 per day for a private room or bed and consultant doctors who charge over Rs3,000 as their fees would be taxed at the rate of 3pc.

This was announced by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah while speaking on the floor of the house on Thursday.

The proposal to bring education institutions, private hospitals and doctors under the sales tax net was part of the Sindh budget for the financial year 2024-25. The Sindh Revenue Board will collect the tax from July 1 after the approval of the budget from the provincial assembly.

CM Shah, who also holds the portfolio of finance, told lawmakers that every school with a monthly fee of Rs42,000 per month would be taxed.

He said that the tax received from private educational institutions would be given to the education department.

He added that the Sindh government would pay Rs1 million as compensation to the heirs of those people killed in street crime in Karachi.

In the face of criticism over the tax proposal, the SRB had stated that the introduction of any tax measures was aimed at supporting sustainable funding for the health and education sectors while considering the impact on stakeholders.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2024

Opinion

Editorial

At breaking point
Updated 20 Jan, 2025

At breaking point

The country’s jails serve as monuments to bureaucratic paralysis rather than justice.
Lower growth
20 Jan, 2025

Lower growth

THE IMF has slightly marked down its previous growth forecast for Pakistan’s economy from 3.2pc to 3pc for the...
Nutrition challenge
20 Jan, 2025

Nutrition challenge

WHEN a country’s children go hungry, its future withers. In Pakistan, where over 40pc of children under five are...
Kurram conundrum
Updated 19 Jan, 2025

Kurram conundrum

If terrorists and sectarian groups — regardless of their confessional affiliations — had been neutralised earlier, we would not be at this juncture today.
EV policy
19 Jan, 2025

EV policy

IT is pleasantly surprising that the authorities are moving with such purpose to potentially revolutionise...
Varsity woes
19 Jan, 2025

Varsity woes

GIVEN that most bureaucrats in our country are not really known for contributions to pedagogical excellence, it ...