Tax proposals – I
On June 5, 2013, we will have a new government in action - faced with multifaceted and complicated problems on economic front. It's immediate task of framing budget for fiscal…
Predatory elites
Pakistan is ruled and controlled by predatory elites in whose hands power and wealth are concentrated. The ruling elites - comprising indomitable military-civil-judicial complex, unscrupulous politicians, mighty religious party leaders,…
Punctured tax base
The Chairman of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), while talking to Associated Press of Pakistan on 17th February 2012, conceded that "Pakistan has one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios in…
Crumbling tax system
Taxes play a vital role for establishing an egalitarian society, the true fruit of social democracy. Under a representative and responsible government, citizens are taxed according to their ability (at…
Rent-seeking and governance
There is no denying the penetration of rent-seeking in the country. It is reflected in multiple forms and manifestations. The elite ie landlords, industrialists, top civil and military bureaucracy are…
Institutional pillage
`Fiscal Neanderthals`. This is how a friend used to describe the finance and FBR bureaucracy and their parliamentary `handlers` after each bout of resistance to tax reform and the introduction…
The care they can take
The constitution is silent on the precise role of the caretaker government. There is a general agreement that the caretaker setup should not take any action that favors one political…
Sordid story of tax frauds – III
During 2003-2007, one tax official used different techniques to issue illegal refunds in several cases without any check by any agency. It was found that the accused official during his…
Corporate power
Economic inequalities within countries have increased significantly in most states that have seen decent growth over the last few decades. But this is usually seen by policymakers as an unavoidable…
