PESHAWAR: Treasury and opposition lawmakers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly jointly renewed their opposition on Monday to the imposition of taxes in the erstwhile Fata and Malakand Division and called for joint efforts to persuade the federal government to reverse its decision.
During a sitting chaired by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, the members declared that they would never accept tax in merged tribal districts and Malakand.
They said that the federal government should fulfil its promises by releasing the development funds it had promised, before imposing taxes in the region.
Housing minister Amjad Ali accused federal minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit- Baltistan Amir Muqam for misleading people by falsely accusing the KP government of taxing erstwhile Fata and Malakand.
Urge Centre to withdraw the move, release promised funds for region
He said that in Malakand, tax was imposed on hotels owned by non-locals.
“This tax was imposed by the PML-N-led federal government,” he said, adding that PTI founder Imran Khan had promised not to tax residents of both regions.
He said that Mr Imran had exempted merged districts and Malakand Division from taxes for five years, while the interim government later extended the exemption for one year.
“If the military establishment has not been calling the shots in the country, the federal government should issue an SRO exempting these areas from any kind of taxes,” he said.
Leader of the Opposition Dr Ibadullah claimed that in 2016, the then PTI government in the province approved a proposal regarding Customs Act for Malakand, while the Federal Board of Revenue enforced it.“
At that time, I spoke in the National Assembly against my own federal government on this issue and even threatened to resign as MNA if the Customs Act was not withdrawn,” he said.
The leader of the opposition said that the provincial government had extended the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority Act to tax Malakand and tribal districts.
“Malakand and merged tribal districts should be exempted from the KPRAA taxes before we demand of the federal government to offer the tax relief,” he said.
Dr Ibadullah said taxing those areas was unjust, so all lawmakers should unite for the cause.
Member of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party Ahmad Karim Kundi said that the opposition benches had always forwarded constructive suggestions to the government.
He urged Chief Minister Sohail Afridi to lead the struggle for tax-free ex-Fata and Malakand.
The member wondered how authorities could tax an area when they didn’t consider it for a share in the NFC Award.
He said under Article 246 and Presidential Order No 20, ex-Fata and Malakand were tax-free zones.
Mr Kundi said that the federal government had promised provision of Rs100 billion to tribal districts annually, so the dues in that respect totalled Rs1.5 trillion.
“This house has resolved multiple issues. The chief minister should lead the process to resolve this arrears issue,” he said, advocating for joint efforts.
Treasury member Anwar Zeb said that he would oppose both provincial and federal governments for taxing tribal districts and Malakand and could resign from the assembly if the tax orders were not withdrawn.
Earlier, Mr Kundi said during the question hour that he had sought data of the flood victims from Dera Ismail Khan, who received financial assistance, but got the data full of discrepancies.
He said that the district committees, formed to identify disaster-hit families, should include public representatives as members instead of bureaucrats.
Member of the opposition ANP Arbab Usman complained that not even a single penny had been released for the local government representatives.
He said that public representatives should be taken onboard on key issues.
Law minister Aftab Alam Afridi said that if Mr Kundi was not satisfied with the data of the financial assistance for the flood victims and insisted on referring the question to the concerned house committee, the government had no objection to discussing the issue in the concerned house committee for relief.
On her calling attention notice, lawmaker of the opposition JUI-F Aiman Jalil said that a family lost its members in a boat tragedy in Swat as measures weren’t adopted for the safety of tourists like other such places.
She said that massive funds were allocated to the tourism department but still, tourists were not facilitated. The member said tourist spots, especially lakes in Swat, didn’t have warning signs nor were there any safety jackets for visitors.
Adviser to the chief minister for culture, tourism and archaeology Malik Adeel Iqbal said that around 1.2 million people, including locals and foreigners, visited tourist destinations in the province during Eid days, while high tourist arrivals were also reported during Muharram holidays.
He said that the tourism police were present at those places and facilitated tourists.
The adviser urged the opposition lawmaker to identify places lacking facilities. However, housing minister Amjad Ali insisted that no police personnel present were present near the Saifullah Lake in Swat when the boat tragedy struck.
The house later passed the Hindu Marriage KP Amendment Bill, 2026, which was moved by local government minister Meena Khan Afridi.
The chair put off the session until next Monday.
Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2026