Dr. Ikramul Haq On January 23, 2019, the Federal Finance Minister, Asad Umar, presented Finance Supplementary (Second Amendment) Bill of 2019 offering no concrete steps to harness the real tax potential, which at the federal level alone is not less than Rs. 8 trillion. The failure of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to meet the...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari “The happiness and peace attained by those satisfied by the nectar of spiritual tranquility is not attained by greedy persons restlessly moving here and there”—  Chanakya (371 BC- 283 BC) When one thinks of heaven, the first thing that strikes is peace. Peace in the surroundings, peace at heart and above all, peace...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq On January 23, 2019, the Federal Finance Minister, Asad Umar, presented Finance Supplementary (Second Amendment) Bill of 2019—commonly dubbed as mini-budget—to  balance the books by raising revenues through enhanced duties on the imported goods labelled as ‘luxury items’, giving relief to domestic industries for import of raw material and...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq Pakistan is a strange country where custodians of the system act as complainants. Those who head state institutions, instead of reforming the same, complain and express helplessness about their malfunctioning, inefficiency and non-performance or under-performance. In the wake of the tragic incident of Sahiwal where an innocent family became...Read More

Dr. Ikramul Haq The predatory elite of Pakistan—militro-judicial-civil complex, businessmen-turned-politicians and absentee land owners—are responsible for the prevailing mess. While the country is trapped in a deadly debt quagmire, every government—military and civilian alike—begs for bail-outs and then ironically talks about self-reliance! We keep on hearing about reforming the tax system but the elite shamelessly...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari “The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits”— Unknown Intelligence is nobody’s exclusive domain nor is dumbness unique to a single person unless one is mentally challenged. Someone can be academically bright but may not have an aptitude for practicality. Another may be adept in music for example but...Read More

By Dr. Ikramul Haq[*] Levying of taxes on “agricultural income” is sole prerogative of the Provinces under the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan (hereinafter: “the Constitution”). In recent years, a number of enactments imposing agricultural income tax (sic) were promulgated in all the four provinces of Pakistan. All of theses failed to address the most important...Read More

By Dr. Ikramul Haq* I.          INTRODUCTION The imposition of sales tax in Pakistan is not new. It has its origin in pre-partition era under the Government India Act of 1935. In recent years, the complexities have arisen in its implementation as the Federal Government, in the name of “documentation of economy”, decided to extend its...Read More

By Dr.Ikramul Haq Dr. Ikramul Haq, a leading international tax counsel, is a well-known author specialising in international tax, press, intellectual property, corporate and constitutional law. Dr. Ikram is Chief Partner of Lahore Law Associates (fax: +92 42 7226953, e-mail: irm@brain.net.pk; website: http://www.paktax.com.pk). He is a member of the visiting faculty of the Institute of...Read More

NEED FOR TAX INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM Dr. Ikramul Haq[1] Pakistan for the last many years has been grappling with the problem of raising revenue to survive as viable economic entity. The ever-increasing fiscal deficit, coupled with mounting debt servicing, is posing a serious threat to country’s economic revival. The economic managers have failed miserably to increase...Read More