The rot within!
Huzaima Bukhari “All you got to do is look around. This country’s getting worse and worse and more and more immoral, and we’re rotting from within”—Terry Bradshaw-American football quarterback According to Benjamin Wittes, a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at…
Budget 2020: innovative taxation
Dr. Ikramul Haq A good tax system is one that raises money with minimal distortion to the economy. In Pakistan, oppressive, unfair and complex tax system is the main cause of many distortions in economy. Budget 2020, expected on June…
Covid-19 crisis—Budget 2020
Economic revival & IT sector Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq In the aftermath of Covid-19 outbreak and lockdown, now gradually being lifted in Pakistan, the debate about untapped potential of Information Technology (IT) sector has assumed renewed interest. It…
Constitutionality of SROs
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq The federal and provincial tax codes of Pakistan contain numerous exemptions and concessions while many are added, modified or withdrawn through executive orders, called statutory regulatory orders (SROs). These exemptions and concessions have not…
Budget 2020
Simple & fair taxation for retailers Dr. Ikramul Haq The outcome of a meeting between Prime Minister and the business community on January 20, 2020 as expected ended with just clichés like “facilitation”, “concessions” and “waivers” etc. Prime Minister…
Budgets 2020 amid Covid-19 crisis—II
Need for paradigm shift Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq In the present circumstances, in the forthcoming federal budget, the need for a fair and simple tax system, as elaborate in Towards Flat, Low-rate, Broad and Predictable Taxes [PRIME Institute,…
Etymological shenanigans
Huzaima Bukhari “Nobody has monopoly over jahaalat—a highly educated person can be highly jaahil whereas a person who never attended any educational institution can be just the opposite”—Dr. Ikramul Haq Communication is an important matter for all living beings but…
Budgets 2020 amid Covid-19 pandemic
Dr. Ikramul Haq The Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, in a Press Release issued on May 18, 2020, noted that while preparing the next budget, “we should be more vigilant, practical, and analyze…
PIDE: Fixing tax policy
Dr. Ikramul Haq “Simplify taxes, reduce the cost of excessive documentation, open the economy for higher growth and employment, taxes will then increase….Not only is our tax policy not based on conceptual clarity, it is also being changed continuously to…