Death and taxes: Doctors decry imposition of professional levy on income

Say the additional burden will be passed on to patients as inflated fees.

PESHAWAR: The imposition of a professional tax on doctors has caused a wave of discontent among health practitioners who claim the tax will inflate the cost of treatment at private clinics.

The health department has a projected allocation of Rs25.23 billion in the provincial budget for 2014-15 unveiled by the government on Saturday. Furthermore, in order to increase its revenue receipts, the government introduced several new taxes as well as the increase in the taxes on doctors.



Specialist doctors will be now subjected to a tax of Rs20,000 per annum, while non-specialists, hakeems, homeopaths will have to pay Rs2,000 per year, and dentists Rs15,000 per year.

In bilious spirits

This decision has not gone down well with health practitioners who claim the budget did not give them any relief. Dr Hamid Bangash, a senior doctor at Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) told The Express Tribune on Sunday the budget had nothing substantial for the health sector and doctors do not accept the allocations.

“Professional taxes on doctors will directly affect patients because as a result of the tax, doctors will increase the fee at their private clinics,” said Bangash.

He added a 10% increase in the salaries of government employees is a negligible amount because the prices of daily-use goods keep increasing, while rent, utilities, education and other expenditures keep soaring.

“Before the budget announcement, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government made promises it would set an amount aside for doctors’ welfare, conveyance and house rent, however, these promises remain unfulfilled,” said Bangash.

“Instead of providing these facilities to us, the government has imposed more, which is unjust, ” added the doctor.

Lean provisions?

Commenting on the existing facilities in hospitals, Bangash said people in the province were dying of various diseases, while public hospitals suffer from a dearth of facilities. “The existing hospitals are not sufficient to cater to the medical needs of the growing population of the province; the government needs to establish new medical centres on an urgent basis,” said Bangash.

He added free-of-cost emergency services were already available to the public before the PTI came into power. “If the government really wants to provide better facilities, it should focus on addressing the lack of proper health care facilities, doctors, medicines and other resources in public hospitals,” said the senior doctor.

Noorul Iman, the former special health secretary, appreciated the 10% increase in salaries of government employees and urged the government to implement its decision properly.

However, Iman too disagreed with the increase in professional tax on doctors, repeating Bangash’s views that the tax would be passed on the patients.

“Such taxes not only compel doctors to leave the province but also result in them being insincere to their profession,” said Iman. He added there was a need for the government to establish new hospitals to handle the increasing influx of patients.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2014.