National security wordplay
A reinvented wheel with spokes of jargon, cliche, and complacency was presented last month as the National Security Policy (NSP), a more comprehensive version of the Internal Security Policy instituted…
The Merger and tax issues
The passage of Constitution (Thirty-first Amendment) Act, 2018 ["31st Constitutional Amendment"] by Senate and National Assembly, its adoption by the Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [by vote of 92 to 7]…
Implementation of consumer laws big challenge
There is a famous Latin term ‘Caveat venditor’ which means ‘let the seller beware’. This phrase is in stark contrast with the widely known and used contractual phrase ‘Caveat emptor’…
Social and economic trends
The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has recently released the key findings from two major surveys – the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (PSLSMS) and the Household Integrated…
Setting FBR target for FY2020-21
Projecting budgetary targets, in general, and tax revenue, in particular, with a fair degree of accuracy is an essential element of sound fiscal management and, therefore, of maintaining fiscal discipline…
Finance Bill 2020
In the Finance Bill 2020, presented along with federal budget 2020-21, a highly lamentable—rather unconstitutional amendment is proposed—to the effect that for availing right to appeal the aggrieved taxpayer will…
Cotton roadmap
Cotton was always considered to be a resilient and reliable lifeline of Pakistan’s economy; however, the reduction in its productivity over several years has negatively impacted the performance of entire…
Economy picks up?
The government is claiming a rise in productivity as a measure of the success of its policies specifically designed to mitigate the negative fallout of the Coronavirus; and has cited…
Tackling air pollution
‘The Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) shows that strong pollution policies pay back in additional years of life for people across the world. The AQLI’s latest data reveals that reducing…
FBR & tax appellate system
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is allegedly interfering in the quasi-judicial functions of Commissioners of Appeal Inland Revenue. A report published in an English daily, not this newspaper, on…
