Huzaima Bukhari “We don’t do charity in Germany. We pay taxes. Charity is a failure of governments’ responsibilities”—Henning When, a German stand-up comedian Imagine a middle-class household of six, comprising parents, three grown-up healthy boys and the youngest, a physically incapacitated girl requiring special attention. With the presence of such a person in the family,...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq An unusual decline in revenue collection and steep rise in current expenditures caused a deterioration in all major fiscal indicators during FY19. The overall budget deficit during the year stood at a historic high of 8.9 percent of GDP, which was also in excess of the 4.9 percent target...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones”—Albert Einstein One must admit that compared to Colin Powell, Albert Einstein was more optimistic as he had foreseen a scenario where the people of the world would be engaged in...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq Much before Covid-19 outbreak, the widening income and wealth disparities were highlighted by us in various columns with solutions to bridge the growing rich-poor divide, but no government paid any heed. During the rule of General Pervez Musharraf [October 12, 1999 to August 18, 2008], a report by Centre...Read More

Dr. Ikramul Haq Budget 2020 is in the making amidst very difficult times when we are faced with economic meltdown due to Covid-19 outbreak and extreme hardships by weaker segments of society. The traditional approach adopted for decades in Pakistan for balancing the books, levying more taxes, containing fiscal deficit and other number games will...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq According to a Press report the Government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) “has quietly closed over 310,000 tax audit cases that had been automatically selected from 2015 to 2017 due to the failure of taxpayers to timely file tax returns and pay due taxes”. This is a blatant violation of...Read More

Tax proposals for budget 2020-21 Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq This year’s budget for fiscal year 2020-21 is expected in the first week of June, will be in extraordinary circumstances, where like other nations we have to strive hard to ensure survival and revival of businesses adversely affected by Covid-19 pandemic that employ millions...Read More

Revisiting advance/withholding taxes Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq After the Second World War, the provision of advance income tax was provided in the then prevalent Income Tax Act, 1922 for the first time by inserting section 18A vide section 5 of the Indian Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 1944. We inherited this law on independence...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari “The greatest deception men suffer from is their own opinion”—Leonardo Da Vinci In a highly deceptive world where everyone is out to deceive each other for own vested interest, the biggest disservice one can do to oneself is fall victim to self-deception in a negative way. Observing the world around with an objective...Read More

Economic-tax relief package      Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq Pakistan is facing the brunt of Coronavirus outbreak as the country is in a partial lock down. This has had a negative impact on businesses. Initial estimates show that the economy will witness sluggish growth in services, manufacturing and agriculture sectors, increase in unemployment, decrease...Read More