Resisting agri tax

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Sindh's recent agricultural income?tax backlash seems to be orchestration by feudal elites, not spontaneous revolt by subsistence farmers. The Sindh Chamber of Agriculture's coordinated boycott call and threats of arrest aim to shield decades-old agricultural privilege from reform.

A tax of this kind is not unprecedented. Nor need it target smallholders. A calibrated yield?based levy with productivity thresholds and built?in relief during droughts or floods ensures that subsistence farming remains untouched. It is the commercial estates — the landed families and cartels — that operate profitably while avoiding any tax scrutiny that stand exposed. Criticism citing industrial exemptions or IMF involvement misses the point.

The question is not whether certain sectors enjoy concessions, but whether the principle of equitable taxation can take root. Two wrongs do not make a right. Tax reform must begin somewhere — starting with those most capable of paying. These powerful actors rely on rural patronage networks and political influence to maintain their immunity. They frame tax collection as an assault on agriculture itself, rather than on concentrated agricultural wealth. That framing misleads public discourse and undermines equitable policy. Pakistan's tax base is dangerously narrow. Allowing landed elites to continue without accountability perpetuates structural imbalance. To broaden revenue and reduce dependence on external borrowing, the state must move forward with measured, transparent reform.

The current protest is a direct challenge to state authority. Yield?linked, progressive agricultural taxation tests whether governance institutions still serve the many, not the few. Pakistan must ensure that land ownership does not confer the right to evade fiscal responsibility. This moment offers an opportunity to correct long?standing inequity. It is time the state affirmed the fact that privilege must not insulate, and debt?burdened citizens cannot be expected to subsidise elite exemption indefinitely.