Policies dictate outcomes
Through the ages, there have always been individuals who have had to ask others for help to sustain themselves. Not inherent in human nature, stretching out a hand to a…
OECD, Pakistan & tax evasion
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an international organization dedicated to promoting economic development and cooperation among its member countries, conducts extensive research and analysis on a wide…
Budget: rationalise taxation
On the eve of another ritual exercise of announcing federal budget, official date has yet to be finalised, expected on June 12, 2024, there is a need to re-evaluate tax…
Budget & tax policy
‘The impact of economic growth on the lives of people is partly a matter of income distribution, but it also depends greatly on the use that is made of the…
Taxing the auto industry
Economists of the 20th century believe that a thriving industrial sector is crucial to the development of a modern economy. In 2010, Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang observed that development without…
Transparency, taxation & reforms
Macroeconomic conditions have improved over the course of the program. Growth of 2 percent is expected in FY24 given continued recovery in the second half of the fiscal year. The…
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…
Myths about taxation
Do our esteemed finance minister, prime minister, policymakers at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and economic managers know why the tax-to-GDP ratio is significantly higher in developed countries compared…
Paradigm behind an ideal tax-to-GDP ratio
One point of commonality in all twenty-three International Monetary Fund (IMF) programmes secured by Pakistan to date is an emphasis on raising tax revenue with more recent programmes seeking not…
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…
