Averting fiscal disaster
Dr. Ikramul HaqThe coalition Government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is facing fiscal disaster as evident from Summary of Consolidated Federal and Provincial Fiscal Operations, 2020-21, released on May 6, 2021 by the Ministry of Finance, for the first nine months…
I.A. Rehman: A non-conformist humanitarian!
Huzaima Bukhari“Whoever controls the media, controls the mind”—Jim MorrisonOn an oppressive August day in 1986 on shifting from Karachi to Lahore, when my husband took me to the office of the Viewpoint at 4A Lawrence Road to meet his former…
Determination of fair sales tax base
Dr. Ikramul HaqIn the last article, Determining fair income-tax base, Daily Times, April 12, 2021, an effort was made to determine fair income-tax base. In this article, the same exercise is undertaken for sales-tax on goods, administered by the Federal…
Self-respect: A nation’s pride
Huzaima Bukhari“Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect”—Eric HofferWay back in the 1960s, during our primary school days, our textbooks contained stories of children belonging to different provinces, even Bengalis when East Pakistan was…
Towards federalised tax apparatus
Dr. Ikramul HaqThe provinces must participate in devising a national tax policy and collection apparatus as their share under 7th National Finance (NFC) Award (57.5%) is greater than the federal government and it cannot be reduced under Article 160(3A) of…
Weeding out ‘deadwood’
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr Ikramul HaqAccording to a news story, the coalition government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has recently convened a meeting to consider early retirement of inefficient and corrupt civil servants belonging to various occupational groups and services. As…
Weeding out deadwood from FBR
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr Ikramul HaqAccording to a news story, the coalition government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has recently convened a meeting to consider early retirement of inefficient and corrupt civil servants belonging to various occupational groups and services. As…
Agenda for reforms, growth & welfare
Dr. Ikramul HaqThe fragmented tax administration and complex tax codes are one of the reasons for low collection, sluggish growth due to heavy cost of compliance. The citizens, especially, transprovincial entities, have to deal with multiple tax agencies, namely, Federal…
Self-respect: A nation’s pride
Huzaima Bukhari“Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect”—Eric HofferWay back in the 1960s, during our primary school days, our textbooks contained stories of children belonging to different provinces, even Bengalis when East Pakistan was…