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