Growth, broad base & low-rate taxes Huzaima Bukhari, Dr. Ikramul Haq & Syed Muhammad Ijaz “A comprehensive strategy has been formulated to shift the gear and move to higher economic growth. I do not believe in increase in taxes to increase revenue collection but those outside the tax net would be tapped. The chances for any...Read More

Dr. Ikramul Haq The 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 of the current fiscal year. It shows that 37% of defence spending is now...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari “Whoever controls the media, controls the mind”—Jim Morrison On 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 colleagues, the first question Mr. I.A. Rehman [Ibn Abdur Rehman, popularly known as...Read More

Dr. Ikramul Haq In 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 Board of Revenue (FBR) under Sales Tax Act, 1990 [“the Act]. The gap of...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari “Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect”—Eric Hoffer Way 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 under our flag. These used to be descriptive accounts of their lifestyle including...Read More

Dr. Ikramul Haq The 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 the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan [“the Constitution”]. Article 156(2) of the...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr Ikramul Haq According 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 per report, an official letter has been issued by the Establishment Division requiring consideration...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr Ikramul Haq According 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 per report, an official letter has been issued by the Establishment Division requiring consideration...Read More

Dr. Ikramul Haq The 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 Board of Revenue (FBR), Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA), Sindh Revenue Board (SRB), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari “Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect”—Eric Hoffer Way 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 under our flag. These used to be descriptive accounts of their lifestyle including...Read More