SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)
Tax evasion is a chronic problem in Pakistan — only about 2 percent of the population is registered in the tax system, and the government collects just 9 percent of the country’s wealth in taxes, one of the lowest rates in the world. More than 60% of Pakistan’s cabinet and two thirds of its federal lawmakers paid no tax last year, according to a report released y on tax evasion among the country’s political leaders. Pakistan has one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios in the world, estimated at 9.2%. Only 260,000 out of 180 million citizens have paid tax consecutively for the last three years, according to the Federal Board of Revenues (FBR).
In order to control tax evasion, FBR has launched tax directory. According to Finance minister Ishaq Dar, about 129 parliamentarians are missing from tax directory because they did not pay their tax for the year. According to FBR Out of 1,169 parliamentarians, only 1,040 have filed tax returns for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013-2014. The tax directory has come under some criticism from people who believe that it is revealing sensitive and private information. Such concerns are valid in an environment of insecurity, where kidnapping for ransom is a widespread practice. But these reservations need to be balanced against the requirements of the revenue effort required to pay for the maintenance of law and order in the first place.
This is one of the commendable step by finance Minister but still the question is that Would government be able to take against influential and powerful class who shamefully evades tax? If yes than first Finance Ministry would have to take action against PM, who files a meager tax amount against income of billions and if not, then there is no need of such measures, it would be mere waste of time.
pakistan.shafaqna.com
