Education—for sale?
Huzaima Bukhari “Education is like the pooja ghar (place of worship) for us. We are never going to become a for-profit player in education. It will be akin to selling the pooja ghar”—Anand Mahindra. A people-friendly government of any sane…
Tax frauds, corruption & NAB
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq In majority tax frauds, the usual parties are the official(s) and the taxpayer(s). Cases where unilateral tax fraud is committed are rare such as using fictitious bank account(s) to obtain fake refunds. But even…
Mounting debt burden
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr Ikramul Haq Public debt as percentage of GDP was recorded at 84.8 percent at end June 2019 compared with 72.1 percent at end June 2018. This increase was primarily due to the build-up of liquidity buffers…
Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights
Dr. Ikramul Haq The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has repeatedly asserted that Pakistanis are hesitant to pay taxes with the same zeal as they act as philanthropists. The main cause identified by him is mistrust between the taxpayers…
Life—simply complicated?
Huzaima Bukhari “Life is really simple but we insist on making it complicated”—Confucius. Nothing seems to satisfy man! Those living in the villages yearn for the bright city lights and sounds and the city dwellers enviously view the villager’s laid…
Stay of recovery in tax matters
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq In tax disputes the principles relating to stay of recovery in appropriate cases with or without condition, whether provided statutorily or as a matter of inherent jurisdiction, are well-established. The highest court of the…
Stay of recovery in tax matters
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq In tax disputes the principles relating to stay of recovery in appropriate cases with or without condition, whether provided statutorily or as a matter of inherent jurisdiction, are well-established. The highest court of the…
PTI, traders & taxes
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq “I will not give in to unreasonable pressure of the business community as it would be traitorous to my countrymen…I will not step back after countrywide strikes by the business and trading fraternity….”—PM vows…
Oppressive taxes & rich-poor divide
Dr. Ikramul Haq The world’s 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than the 4.6 billion people who make up 60 percent of the planet’s population—Oxfam’s report, ‘Time to Care’, published on 20 January 2020. In Pakistan, the average net worth of…