Growth, taxes & equity Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq The budget for fiscal year 2019-20, the first of Government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), is expected on May 24, 2019. Every year before the announcement of annual federal budget—which has become  an official ritual—plethora of tax proposals are received by the Federal Board of Revenue...Read More

Dr. Ikramul Haq There is a national consensus that existing tax policy needs to be reformulated to provide an equitable, pragmatic, investment-oriented and business-friendly tax system, integrating good tax administration with simplified tax laws that are easily understood and hassle-free from the implementation perspective. Efforts of the government in the past to reform the tax...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari “There’s this sense that whiteness is the default and does not need to be questioned. That you’ve got a race if you’re black, or any kind of Asian, or any kind of Native American, but that you have no race if you are white”—Celeste Ng, an American born Chinese origin fiction writer “Slavery...Read More

Dr. Ikramul Haq Since Ayub’s era our rulers have developed addiction for intakes of foreign loans, especially International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailouts—many call it death-blows. With every loan comes a host of conditions—ostensibly meant for economic revival and reforms by every time leaving us in deeper economic quagmire. Musharraf-Shaukat duo hoodwinked the nation by claiming...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari “Administration of justice, is the principle of order in political society”—Aristotle Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) came to power after a strenuous struggle in which the paramount slogan was ‘dispensation of justice’ (the basis for name of the party) but on eventually gaining power, this appears to have disappeared into oblivion. There is no denying...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq After about relief of 10 months, at least 95 million unique mobile users [as per website of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), total cellular subscribers as on March 31, 2019 were 159 million, but many have multiple and/or dormant SIMs] after vacation of stay by Supreme Court on April 24,...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq Budget 2019-20, expected to be announced in the last week of this month, will be very important for the coalition government of Pakistan Tahreek-i-Insaf (PTI). It will determine the direction of economy in the wake of another bailout agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and action plans for...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari “A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself”—Jim Morrison, American singer and song writer          All living beings need a soul mate. Yes, besides humans, even animals and plants require some form of companionship that enables them to share their emotions and also to thrive in their lives. There are...Read More

Dr. Ikramul Haq Pakistan needs a paradigm shift in the existing tax policy and revamping of entire tax administration—establishment of a National Tax Authority [NTA], capable of generating sufficient resources for the federal and provincial governments, must be the top priority. Through democratic process, all the provincial parliaments can under Article 144 of the Constitution...Read More

Dr. Ikramul Haq The prevailing myth, popular with TV anchors, donors and tax bureaucracy, that our tax base is narrow and only 1% of the population pays income tax is totally fallacious—this statement reiterated by the representative of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) before Senate Standing Committee on January 30, 2019 went unnoticed, what to...Read More