Economy of failure
In the last quarter of a century several civilian and military governments have come into power, blamed their predecessors for mismanaging the economy and promised to make a new beginning…
Irritatingly oppressive taxes – II
A close examination of FBR's performance would show that it has shifted the burden of collecting taxes to withholding agents, who are performing the essential State function of tax collection…
Economy 2014
Capital suggestion For the media, good news is not news. To be certain, every coin has two sides and every cloud has a silver lining. Yes, the economy is cloudy,…
Understating tax expenditure
Tax expenditure is the revenue foregone due to exemptions and concessions, which are deviations from a normal tax regime. They are also referred to as tax loopholes. Tax expenditures are…
Budget in elitist economy – I
In the coming days, the government of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), having a majority in National Assembly, will get the Finance Bill 2015 passed, without any difficulty, ignoring many sensible…
Budget 2015-16: Another ritualistic exercise! – II
In budget 2014-15, FBR target was fixed at Rs. 2810 billion, which was later reduced to Rs. 2605 billion. The worthy Finance Minister is full of praise for FBR's bosses…
Budget proposals-V: Taxes and economic justice
Distributive justice or economic justice is an important function of tax policy. Economic justice relates largely to distribution of tax burden and benefits of public expenditure. It is a component…
Tax proposals – III
The existing tax system is highly unjust as it protects the rich and heavily taxes the poor. This cruel taxation is meant to finance the luxuries of militro-judicial-civil complex and…
Taxing the rich
Easier said than done; taxing the rich, based on modern history, is perhaps an impossible dream. After all the rich foot the bill for election campaigns all across the globe,…
But what if they don’t want to see
Recently, urged on by a particular reference while indulging in a favourite pastime, reading, searched and downloaded from the internet, a paper by Fredric Bastiat, apparently written in 1850 and…
