KARACHI:
In Pakistan, successive governments have resorted to repressive tax laws, which have made the rich, richer and the poor, poorer. It has stifled growth and discouraged business transactions because of complex laws and cumbersome procedures. Our financial managers are caught up in a dilemma.
On the one hand, there is mounting pressure to reduce the fiscal deficit through improved collections, and on the other, they are not ready to abolish innumerable tax exemptions and concessions available to the rich and mighty.
In our fiscal woes, there is also criminal culpability of IMF bosses who pressurise our economic managers to follow their faulty prescriptions. They are aware that these actions not only burden the poor but also constitute an open violation of Articles 77 and 162 of the Constitution of Pakistan. In their countries, they talk about rule of law, and in Pakistan they ignore our supreme law of the land.
In negotiations with Pakistan, the IMF has never raised the issue of violation of constitutional provisions and burdening the poor with unprecedented taxes on basic products. With time, our tax system has become oppressive, unjust, and target-oriented. We should liberate ourselves from the reform game of the World Bank and other foreign donors. The tax policies implemented by us on the dictates of foreign donors have led to abject poverty for most people. These policies are not making us self-reliant but, on the contrary, are destroying our industry and businesses. If we manage to formulate a rational tax policy through public debate and parliamentary process and implement it through consensus and not coercive measures, there is a possibility to get rid of the World Bank and IMF in a short span of time.
Shafi Ahmed Khowaja
Hyderabad
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2021.
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