ISLAMABAD: Both the Senate and National Assembly’s standing committees on finance have strongly opposed the proposed 18% sales tax on imported solar panels.
The Senate Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, approved a proposal to remove the 18% tax on solar panel imports during its meeting on Monday. The committee also supported tax exemptions on aircraft imports for the privatization of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and agreed to increase the sales tax on small cars from 12.5% to 18%.
In a separate meeting held in Islamabad, the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by Naveed Qamar, also rejected the tax on solar panels. Members from across party lines criticized the proposal, stating that all political parties in Parliament were united against imposing tax on solar energy equipment.
Naveed Qamar said the committee unanimously turned down the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) recommendation to impose the tax. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb responded that the committee’s feedback had been noted and would be considered.
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Earlier, during the 2025–26 budget speech, the finance minister had proposed an 18% tax on imported solar panels to ensure fair competition with locally made panels and boost the domestic solar manufacturing sector.
However, the government’s key coalition partner, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), has rejected the proposal. PPP spokesperson Shazia Marri said the party would not support the tax as it would make clean electricity more expensive for the public. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah also warned that the PPP would not support the federal budget if the tax was imposed, calling the move unjustified during a recent press conference.
