The whole system is designed to facilitate tax evasion by the elite
SUKKUR: Pakistan is a country with an ever-expanding tax-to-GDP ratio and an alarming pile-up of loans to fill the deficit. It is also a country where registered tax filers are harassed and those who evade taxes are given numerous tax amnesty schemes. The system works to encourage tax evasion by persisting to squeeze those who are already in the tax net. The whole system is designed to facilitate tax evasion by the elite and burden the salaried class and those few conscientious traders who pay taxes and file returns regularly. Instead of widening the tax net, the corrupt bureaucracy within the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the ruling elite have made life miserable for honest Pakistanis who do not resort to money laundering. A plot allotted at subsidised rates to the elite in CDA, Islamabad or DHA Karachi and Lahore, with market prices ranging between Rs4-8 crore rupees, when sold has tax deducted at the district commissioner rate, which is a meagre Rs35 lakhs. What is the option for an honest Pakistani, who bought a plot with his white money and declares it in his wealth statement with the intention of investing it to help him post-retirement?
FBR employees pursue retired salaried people who, having paid taxes all their lives, continue to file their tax and wealth returns, but are harassed when they buy a new car registered in their name. Why should FBR employees focus only on those who are registered tax filers, visit and harass them at their residences, instead of catching the thousands who are either not registered or pay nominal taxes but buy luxurious limousines and SUVs worth over Rs1 crore, registered in their name or somebody else’s name, who is also not a taxpayer? Non-taxpayers can buy expensive cars, pay a nominal additional tax and are never bothered by state agencies. This farce must come to an end.
Aneela Chandio
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2016.
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