Lahore - PML-N Spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said yesterday that PML-N had completely rejected the second mini-budget presented by PTI government calling it a free pass to non-filers and tax-evaders to legitimise their black money.

Marriyum said the entire mini-budget was designed to benefit likes of Aleema Khan who avoided documenting their assets, filing their taxes and hiding their illegitimate wealth in anonymous offshore properties. This budget is a special scheme to regularize Imran Khan’s illegal wealth and his ‘benamidar’ Aleema Khan’s offshore empires. After this mini-budget’s approval FBR officials would be able to regularise any offshore asset, she claimed.

Marriyum said the mini-budget had legitimised black money and encouraged tax evasion. The budget appeased agents of undocumented economy and facilitated those who sought to hide their true assets by avoiding filing taxes, they said.

“PTI has surrendered and taken another U-turn on their promise of banking on direct taxation through documented economy and has announced its dependence on indirect taxation through this mini-budget.”

“Tax evaders who are an economic  menace to the society, have been given a free-pass by the PTI government to purchase as many assets worth Rs 5 million each and as many cars under 1800 CC. This limit on spending does not make any moral or financial sense whatsoever,” the PMLN response said.

“This,” she said, “is a day of jubilation for tax evaders and an eve of disaster for the impoverished Pakistanis because the mini-budget is designed to make the rich richer and the poor even poorer. The big vehicle manufacturing companies are given massive tax cuts while the poor were slapped with more taxes”.

If the so-called Medina-model government was so keen to provide relief through cutting taxes, why did they not think of cutting taxes on children’s milk instead of giving tax rebate to their wealthy friends who had invested in their political skirmishes? PTI had labeled it a relief reform package, if it were so, why did the government not withdraw the taxes it imposed on everyday items in their past budget?, Marriyum questioned.

The finance minister did not even care to tell that where will the money come from for these tax cuts for his manufacturing industrialists; what part of the middle class would need to be crushed further in the grinder to squeeze the money for these favours to the rich, said the former information minister.

The PML-N central leader said that by increasing duties on cars, automobile manufacturers had been permitted to raise prices of cars, the PML-N government had levied this tax to ensure that rich manufacturers would contribute to their due share in the national kitty. PTI believed that this favour was not enough which is why it went an extra mile to eliminate tax on inter-company dealings of massive manufacturers to further deeper their pockets while the individual average Pakistani consumer would pay taxes through the nose.

These new reforms by the PTI government has reverted this advantage away from the country and back into the pockets of manufacturers.

She slammed PTI for misguiding the nation by saying it had provided relief to the farmers whereas in reality they did not. Reducing income tax on bank loans for farmers is not just illogical and ineffective but pure madness, PML-N stated. The only meaningful measure could have been limiting the interest rates of farmers’ loans as banks are taking 15 percent.

The finance minister made his rich friends in fertilizer industry very proud and extremely happy by facilitating them instead of giving relief to farmers directly. Asad Umar’s buddies in the multi corporate holding would also be thanking him for the respite that would make them richer while the middle class was ignored, she said.

Marriyum said it was a mini-budget of the rich, by the rich, for the rich.

“If the tax relief is to commence from 1st July, why was it introduced in January, it could have easily been introduced in the next budget when it would actually matter,” PML-N questioned.  

PML-N would not allow this anti-people budget to pass and would unearth the truth behind PTI’s mini-budget in front of the people of Pakistan who would be worst hit by it, she concluded.