Endemic corruption
Pakistan is going through an immensely difficult era. Is it because of democracy? Is it because of the legacy that Musharraf left behind? Whatever the diagnosis the fact is that…
Winds of change (Part III)
The traumatic recent developments involving the long march to Islamabad of over a hundred thousand persons expressing their deep frustrations at the present political system reflect the agony of the…
Tax amnesty for whom?
The Political and Strategy Committee (PSC) of Pakistan Tahreek-i-Insaf (PTI), in a meeting held under its Chairman Imran has expressed deep concern over the introduction of Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill…
The fulminations of Tahirul Qadri
The politicians of Pakistan are incapable of saying anything without indulging in coloured phrases of rhetorical exaggeration. The pathetic grandiloquence of their speeches is invariably laced with barbs against their…
Tax delinquents
A resident of Alberta, Canada, has posed a question through email that deserves a detailed and satisfactory reply. The statement quoted in this mail, though based on misunderstanding, reflects sadly…
The mood of the moment
Pakistan’s mainstream political leadership appears edgy these days. All of a sudden many politicians seem to have had a revelation that a conspiracy is being hatched to derail the country’s…
PSEs: a reform agenda
Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways are Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) just like our national flag carrier - the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). Apparently, the ownership structure of PIA and these…
Pakistan’s unmourned Bouazizi
It was a cold and clammy winter’s evening in Mexico City, but this did not seem to matter. It was a season of mirth and merriment, of mistletoe and chiming…
Beyond reform?
Since the start of World Bank funded Tax Administration Reforms Programme (TARP), FBR has been making tall claims about its automation efforts. All the chairmen of FBR, who headed the…
Sheer ignorance of law?
Ignorantia juris non excusat or ignorantia legis neminem excusat (Latin for "ignorance of the law does not excuse" or "ignorance of the law excuses no one") is a legal principle…
