PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Doctors Association (PDA) has complained about the government’s directives to medical colleges and hospitals regarding deduction of professional income tax from the wages of doctors, including the basic medical sciences teachers who don’t have private practice.

In a letter, the PDA asked authorities to revoke the decision, saying the doctors have already been paying taxes like other government employees, so additional taxation is a matter of concern.

The PDA leaders said the “taxation regime” for doctors was sanctioned by the government in 2019 but was deferred due to the onset of Covid-19 and a subsequent stay order by the court against it in response to a PDA petition.

They said recently, the excise and taxation department asked hospitals and colleges to deduct professional tax from the incomes of doctors, upsetting medics, especially basic medical science teachers, who had already submitted affidavits that they’d not been engaged in any private practice since their appointment and were getting non-practicing allowance according to the established rules.

Says additional taxation a matter of concern

According to a notification, those teachers have to pay Rs80,000 taxes on their income at source, causing fears about those teachers quitting jobs due to the “unjust levy.”

The PDA leaders said the public sector medical colleges were already facing an acute shortage of basic science teachers who were in high demand in the private sector because private colleges wanted them to get recognised by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, the regulator for medical education in the country.

They said in 2007, the health department announced monthly allowances for basic science teachers to stop brain drain and save medical colleges from being derecognised by PDMC.

The PDA leaders said the PMDC accorded recognition to new medical colleges on the strength of the faculty of medical science teachers, while the Higher Education Commission evaluated the strength of basic teachers while giving approval for degree programmes.

They insisted that they had been getting lucrative offers from private medical colleges but they didn’t show interest as they wanted to serve in the government institutions.

The PDA leaders said the teachers of basic sciences usually relied on their salaries to manage expenses as they didn’t do private practice.

They said during the last few years, the basic sciences departments at government medical colleges had suffered immensely and that several colleges were at risk of derecognition in case of inspection by PMDC to check the strength of their faculties.

The PDA leaders said basic medical sciences, including anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, forensic medicines, toxicology, pathology, community medicine and pharmacology, were taught to medical students from the first to fourth year, while they studied clinical subjects in the final year only.

They demanded that the provincial government discuss the unjustified taxation with them.

The PDA leaders said the new tax was included in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance Bill, 2019, passed by the provincial assembly in June 2019 and it was introduced with some modifications in rates, saying that any person engaged in any profession, trade or employment will pay tax.

They said under the new arrangement, a specialist doctor would pay Rs80,000 taxes a year, non-specialist doctor Rs30,000 per year and a dental surgeon Rs15,000 a year.

The PDA leaders said people earning up to Rs20,000 would be exempt from taxation, while those earning up to Rs30,000 will pay Rs1,000 taxes per month.

They said people earning up to Rs50,000 a month would pay Rs1,200 tax, those with an income of Rs50,000-Rs100,000 an amount of Rs1,500, those earning Rs100,000- Rs200,000 a tax of Rs2,000 and the ones with income ranging from Rs200,000 to Rs500,000 a tax of Rs3,000.

The PDA leaders added that as per the new regime, people earning more than Rs500,000 would pay Rs5,000 per month.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2025