APUBTA condemns removal of tax rebate for university faculty and researchers

ISLAMABAD: The All Pakistan Universities BPS Teachers Association (APUBTA) vehemently condemns the federal government’s shocking and regressive proposal to abolish the tax rebate historically granted to university teachers and researchers.

This rebate – originally introduced in 2006 at 75 per cent and later reduced to 40 per cent in 2013 – has been the sole meaningful financial relief for public-sector academics who have tirelessly contributed to education and research in Pakistan. The decision to scrap it entirely is not just economically unjustified – it is an outright assault on the academic community.

Using IMF pressure as a pretext for this rollback is both hypocritical and unacceptable, particularly when extravagant perks for the bureaucracy remain untouched, and massive pay raises for parliamentarians are reportedly under discussion. This reflects a blatant bias in favor of the political elite and a clear disregard for the intellectual backbone of the country.

President APUBTA denounced the move as irresponsible and short-sighted, warning of catastrophic consequences for Pakistan’s already struggling higher education system. He stressed that this decision will devastate faculty morale, accelerate brain-drain, and further erode the quality and output of academic research. He vowed that APUBTA will vigorously oppose this decision on every available platform.

This ill-conceived policy is nothing less than a declaration of war on education. It sends a dangerous message: that those who teach, innovate, and serve the nation through knowledge are undeserving of respect or financial dignity.

APUBTA demands the immediate withdrawal of this anti-education proposal. Punishing educators is not reform – it is sabotage, the statement said, adding that a nation that abandons its scholars, abandons its future.