The Sindh Assembly on Monday passed the Sindh Agricultural Income Tax Bill 2025 into law as part of Pakistan’s commitments under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, while expressing grievances over the Centre’s failure to engage provinces in talks with the lender of the last resort. The law seen as part of Pakistan’s economic reforms under the IMF’s $7 billion agreement spanning 37 months, entails increased tax on agricultural incomes while underscoring the need to boost revenue collection and reduce recurrent deficit to complete the loan programme. A provincial cabinet meeting, chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, earlier approved the proposed law. Shah, while addressing the Sindh Assembly session, fiercely defended the province’s taxation policies, pointing out that agricultural tax was already in place and being collected. Slamming the federal government’s move to transfer tax collection to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the CM accused the federal government of deliberately keeping provinces out of the loop when it discussed a loan deal with the IMF. “The FBR itself told the IMF that agriculture is not taxed,” Murad said, adding that the federal government initially assigned FBR to collect the tax last May but later forced provinces to implement the measure. “The FBR has failed to meet its targets while burdening taxpayers further,” the CM said. Shah also highlighted Sindh’s stance on provincial autonomy, asserting that the Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) had consistently met its targets and that sales tax should be handed over to provinces. He noted that Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had already passed the agricultural tax bill, while Balochistan’s cabinet had also approved it. “We don’t want the IMF programme to suffer because of us, but rushing this tax will create problems,” he said, adding that the implementation timeline had already been pushed to January 2025 and later to September 30. Pointing to drought-like conditions in parts of Sindh, he highlighted that the persistent shortage of irrigation water was affecting thousands of acres of farmland, including his own, which had become barren due to the construction of a dam.