Tax Evasion: ‘Amnesty schemes counter-productive’

ISLAMABAD: Tax amnesty schemes are encouraging tax evaders instead of helping the government increase its tax collection, Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) President Dr Murtaza Mughal said on Friday. “The idea behind such schemes is to unearth huge amounts of undeclared money. But they have become controversial, questionable and useless,” he said. He said that these schemes were flawed and raised serious moral and ethical questions. He said that they encouraged individuals and companies to keep their money undeclared, adding that policy makers should not ignore the bad effects such schemes left on the moral fabric of society. “They may give a short-lived boost to our ailing economy, but will not help curb corruption and tax evasion,” Mughal said. He said that the undeclared money in the country was estimated to be $200 billion.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2011.