Unconstitutional petroleum levy
Dr. Ikramul Haq The Government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on June 26, 2020 to utter surprise and dismay of all increased the prices of all petroleum products substantially—it is usually done on the first day of every month after a…
Learning to unlearn the learnt!
Huzaima Bukhari “We now know that sex is complicated enough that we have to admit nature doesn’t draw the line for us between male and female, or between male and intersex and female and intersex; we actually draw that line…
PTI’s failure on fiscal front
Dr. Ikramul Haq “The FBR contributes around 80% of the total revenues of the federal government; therefore, any miscalculation or misstargeting can severely cripple the budget, not just of the federal but the provincial governments as well”—Budget 2020-21: Highlights &…
The menace of red-tape
Huzaima Bukhari “But there will be no justice, there will be no government of the people, by the people, and for the people, as long as the government and its officials permit bribery in any form”—John Jay Hooker Someone once…
2019: Review of PTI’s fiscal strategy
Avoiding reforms & imprudent policies 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…
Budget 2020-21: FBR’s tax targets
Over reporting, faulty fixation Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq In document titled, Federal Budget 2020-21: Budget in Brief, revised version presented by Ministry of Finance (MoF) many days after announcement of federal budget for fiscal year (FY) 2020-21…
Child labour—heinous crime continues!
Huzaima Bukhari “We still have a soft approach on the perpetrators of crimes like worst forms of child labour”—Satyarthi Kailash If laws and rules of a country are meant to be broken, especially by those who are their authors, champions,…
Revenuecracy & provincial budgets
Dr. Ikramul Haq The budgets of Punjab and Sindh for fiscal year 2020-21, announced on June 16 and 17, 2020, respectively, have highlighted a pivotal point that all their projections on revenue side depended on the performance of Federal Board…
Morbid taxation: stifling growth of private sector
Case study of telecom industry Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq The Pakistan telecom sector contributes steady inflow of heavy tax collections under major heads like Activation Tax, GST/FED, the PTA fee & charges and others. The PTA has been…