KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has imposed a 10 per cent withholding tax on wedding halls, which the Marriage Hall Association said would be borne by the event organizers.
In a statement released on Friday, association president Rana Raees said the tax would be collected from the party organizing the event, irrespective of the venue rental fees.
He clarified that wedding venue owners have “nothing to do with withholding tax”.
The decision was taken following the FBR’s directives to streamline tax collection in the sector, the association president added.
The tax collection body has been facing a massive shortfall in meeting the assigned target of Rs 1,003 billion, while the total collection so far stands at around Rs 855 billion for November 2024 , reflecting a gap of Rs 149 billion.
The FBR had made internal projections that it could face a deficit of Rs 321 billion for the first half (July-December), but the deficit has already crossed this amount and stood at Rs 338 billion in five months.
The FBR collected Rs 4.3 trillion in five months of the financial year 2024-25. Now, it will need to generate revenue of Rs1.71 trillion this month to achieve an indicative target of Rs6.009 trillion by December 31, 2024, under the IMF program.