I request govt to either increase pension of PIA’s retired employees or spare them from this new taxation burden.
KARACHI: The government has introduced new taxes for employees of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and this does not discriminate between regular employees and those who have retired. This is sheer injustice, for retired employees cannot afford to bear the burden of these new taxes.
According to the Finance Act of 2014 the government has increased Federal Excise Duty (FED) rate on services provided or rendered in respect of travel within Pakistan by air at Rs2,500 for long routes, Rs1,250 on short routes, and Rs500 on socio-economic routes, while a four per cent tax has also been levied on international travel.
This new measure will severely impact retired employees of the airline, not least because inflation hits them especially hard since they have no regular income. Furthermore, the facility of travel allowed to retired employees has also been stopped.
All these measures add to the woes of retired PIA employees at a time when there is no increase in their pension. I, therefore, request the government to either increase the pension of PIA’s retired employees or spare them from this new taxation burden.
Bashir Ahmad
Ex-GM Public Relations, PIA
Published in The Express Tribune, August 13th, 2014.
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