Huzaima & Ikram’s articles collect decades of published analysis on Pakistan’s tax and corporate law — income tax, sales tax, FBR reforms, budgets and constitutional questions — by Dr. Ikramul Haq, Huzaima Bukhari and Abdul Rauf Shakoori, including pieces first published in Pakistan’s leading newspapers.
Need for all-out reforms
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq Every now and then, we keep on hearing from higher judicial echelons that the federal and provincial governments must…
Faulty policies, weak enforcement
Dr. Ikramul Haq While speaking at the one-day conference, ‘Doing Taxes Better: Shifting the Paradigm of Tax Policy and Administration’, organised by Pakistan Institute of…
Tribute to selflessness!
Huzaima Bukhari “A hero is somebody who is selfless, who is generous in spirit, who just tries to give back as much as possible and…
Need for new income tax law
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq When the government of General Pervez Musharraf decided to promulgate a new income tax law in 2000, we, amongst…
Practice, what you preach!
Huzaima Bukhari “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say”—Ralph Waldo Emerson There can be no question about the fact…
Unconstitutional petroleum levy
Dr. Ikramul Haq The Government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has been widely criticized by business houses, public at large and Opposition in National Assembly and…
Tax base & filers
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq According to a Press release of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), it received “two million four hundred forty six…
Political economy of tax reforms—II
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq The failed experience of tax reforms in Pakistan is well documented in a book, The Role of Taxation in…
Returns filers: contradictory numbers
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr Ikramul Haq “The last extended date for filing income tax returns ended on Friday and till the closing time, the FBR…
Religion—why fight over it?
Huzaima Bukhari “True religion is real living; living with all one’s soul, with all one’s goodness and righteousness”—Albert Einstein Considering the volatile situation of the…
Tax system for growth & prosperity
Dr. Ikramul Haq The real dilemma of our tax system is that it is highly inequitable. The burden of taxes is less on the rich…
Tax system for growth & prosperity
Dr. Ikramul Haq The real dilemma of our tax system is that it is highly inequitable. The burden of taxes is less on the rich…
Distorted tax base & oppressive exaction
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr Ikramul Haq Fiscal consolidation should be as growth-friendly as possible. In general, tax base-broadening reforms are identified as growth-oriented reforms. To…
Political economy of tax reforms—I
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq The debates and discourses concerning political economy of tax reforms in Pakistan lack objective analyses and rational approach as…
Existing tax structure & fiscal restraints
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq Presently, all broad-based and buoyant sources of revenue are with the federal government and contribution of provinces in total…
Making FBR efficient
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq The government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI), as per reports, is “trying its best to fill the gaps in the…
Overcoming debt enslavement
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr Ikramul Haq “The central government’s debt increased at a double-digit pace to Rs. 32.1 trillion by the end of November [2019],…
Wither Imran’s reforms agenda?
Dr. Ikramul Haq There is a growing concern among admirers/supporters of Prime Minister Imran Khan that despite tall claims, core reforms promised for making Pakistan…