The need for tax system reforms
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has a strong connection with the business community, especially with the Lahore Chamber of Commerce, as he has served as its president and is well-acquainted with…
Towards a fairer tax system
The World Bank, in its latest report, ‘Pakistan Development Update’, issues a stark warning: in the current fiscal year, the country’s fiscal deficit is projected to skyrocket to a staggering…
Withholding tax system: automation
The economic topography of nations depends heavily on a robust revenue system, akin to the lifeblood sustaining its various functions. Diverse revenue streams, characterizing global economies with “tax revenue”, are…
Growth in federal tax revenues
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has released recently the Revenue Division Year Book for 2022-23. This is a very useful publication and highlights the trends in the level and…
Fixing the taxation system – Part IV
Among many compelling reasons for further devolution to the third tier is that citizens in a local jurisdiction are found to pay more taxes as they see that these are…
Fixing the taxation system – Part III
One of the pernicious side-effects of a large dose of the federal divisible tax pool injected into the provincial finances is that the provinces have become slack in mobilizing their…
Fixing the taxation system – Part II
Studies on sectoral incidence show that industry bears more than two-thirds of the tax, while the services sector bears about 21 per cent and agriculture 3.0 per cent. In the…
Fixing the taxation system – Part I
Very few people outside the economics profession realize that fiscal (government revenue and expenditure) and current accounts (inflows and outflows of foreign exchange) are closely interlinked. A current account is…
Pakistan’s pension system
The cost of Pakistan’s public sector pensions is borne entirely by the government and has witnessed a significant rise in total terms though not in percentage terms and, unlike salary…
Continuity of the IT ecosystem
Pakistan’s surge in the IT industry has led to many high-paying jobs for many experts. This has played a role in government development and private business prosperity. The IT industry…
