Business Desk 
Dec 07, 2024
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) imposed a 10% withholding tax on marriage halls, which, according to the Marriage Hall Association, would be borne by the event organisers.
In a statement issued a day earlier, the association president, Rana Raees, clarified that the tax would be collected from the organising parties and kept separate from the hall’s rental charges. He added: “Marriage hall owners have nothing to do with the withholding tax.”
The decision was part of the FBR’s directives to streamline tax collection in the sector. The association expressed concerns about the additional financial burden on event organisers, but emphasised that hall owners would not be directly involved in the tax payment process.
The imposition of the withholding tax coincided with the FBR’s ongoing struggle to meet its revenue targets. For November 2024, the FBR reported a revenue shortfall of Rs149 billion, collecting Rs855 billion against the assigned target of Rs1,003 billion.
For the first five months of FY25, the FBR collected Rs4.3 trillion. However, its internal projections indicated a potential shortfall of Rs321 billion for the July-December period. By the end of November, the shortfall had already exceeded expectations, reaching Rs338 billion.
Under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, the FBR is required to achieve a revenue target of Rs6.009 trillion by December 31, 2024. To meet this target, the tax authority must collect Rs1.71 trillion in December alone.
The introduction of the withholding tax on marriage halls was part of the FBR’s broader efforts to address its revenue shortfall and fulfil fiscal obligations under the IMF framework.
