By Dr. Ikramul Haq* I.          INTRODUCTION             The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) in its Circular No. 4 of 2000 dated 1st March, 2000, issued under Section 59D of the Income Tax Ordinance, 1979, unveiled yet another tax amnesty scheme to unearth black money. From our past experience with such schemes, it can be said...Read More

By Dr. Ikramul Haq* The country’s banks and other financial institutions wrote off a staggering amount of over Rs 30 billion during the governments of Muhammad Khan Junejo, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. Two-thirds of the total loans – Rs. 22.35 billion – were written off during the two stints of Nawaz Sharif. In his...Read More

Dr. Ikramul Haq The process of accountability must start from those who judge others. Any process of accountability lacking credibility and transparency is bound to fail, even bounce back. For sustainable democracy, accountability of all through an impartial and competent judiciary is essential. For independent judiciary, the judges must be men of integrity, blameless, and...Read More

By Dr. Ikramul Haq* The Central Board of Revenue has been consistently and persistently claiming that tax base of Pakistan is disappointingly narrow and majority of the people do not pay income tax.  The reality is quite opposite. The people of Pakistan are the most heavily taxed (rather over-taxed) nation in the entire Asian region...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari All religions, whether Godly or man-made, prescribe sets of rituals that signify essential elements of their tenets. One can easily identify followers of a particular religion from the way they perform their rites and observe their customs. Similarly, even the houses of worship can be discerned as belonging to a typical faith. Another...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq All public power is a sacred trust, which is to be exercised fairly, justly, honestly and in accordance with law—Supreme Court in Workers’ Party Pakistan & Others v Federation of Pakistan & Others PLD 2012 Supreme Court 681 “The institutional structure of Pakistan’s economy is designed to generate rents...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq It is clear by now that the government of Pakistan Tahreek-i-Insaf (PTI), like its predecessors, has no definite action plan for tax reforms that were promised in its ‘First 100-Day Agenda’. The modus operandi of bureaucrats (it has by now successfully captivated/trapped the PTI government) is known to all—disconnect...Read More

By Ikramul Haq* Over the last many years, the need for tax reforms is stressed and reiterated by all quarters including the Government itself. However, each attempt in this direction during the last several decades proved to be a complete failure. The main reason for this failure is that search for rationalisation and simplification of...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). He is also a member of the visiting faculty of the Institute of...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari “We learned at an early age that it was men’s interpretation of our religion that restricted women’s opportunities, not our religion itself. Islam in fact had been quite progressive toward women from its inception”—Benazir Bhutto, 11th and 13th Prime Minister of Pakistan who was assassinated on 27 December 2007. The East is from...Read More