RGST: More rejection for reformed tax

JUI-F says it will not support govt's bid to seek National Assembly approval for bill.

ISLAMABAD: The Jamiat Ulemae Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) said they will not support the government’s bid to seek the National Assembly approval for a bill aimed at reforming an “outdated and leaking” taxation system.

“We will oppose when it comes to the parliament,” JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman said on Thursday, apparently aggravating troubles for the government in taking the reformed general sales tax (RGST) bill through the National Assembly.

Rehman, who is known for his tricky flip-flop on key national issues, was speaking to the media after chairing a meeting of parliamentarians from his party. “The RGST is being introduced on the pressure of America…we will vote against it,” the party chief told journalists. Primarily designed to bring outright structural changes in the tax collection mechanism, the RGST bill is being criticised as anti-poor by masses, traders, manufactures and industrialists alike.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2010.