Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq The coalition government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on February 11, 2021 opted to issue second Presidential Ordinance VI of 2021 [Tax Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021] inserting new provisions and amending the existing ones in all the tax codes—Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, Sales Tax Act, 1990, Customs Act, 1969 and...Read More

Case study of telecom industry Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq The Pakistan telecom sector contributes steady inflow of heavy tax collections under major heads like Activation Tax, GST/FED, the PTA fee & charges and others. The PTA has been advocating to the government to reduce the tax burden on the sector, which it considers...Read More

Dr. Ikramul Haq In the recent months, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) under the present team not only exceeded the budget for the first seven months of the current fiscal year, but has also taken many initiatives that need to be acknowledged and highlighted. FBR is trying its best to restore citizens’ faith in...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq[i]   The outdated and oppressive tax structures at federal and provincial levels have created further fiscal mess[1] that is highlighted in the new chapters and solutions offered for their resolution[2]. We have also included a model ‘Pilot Project’ of low and flat rate taxation of retail sector showing its...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari “Unless the issue of the empowerment of women is addressed, the practice of women being unfairly treated will remain unresolved”―Kapil Sibal In addition to scientific and technological advancements, the world today has moved towards better integration of relationship between men and women because of empirically-proven data and irrefutable information for better understanding of...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq In recent days, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has taken many steps to enforce internal accountability mechanism to uproot corruption/malpractices within the organisation. The steps like making Chief Commissioners as ‘IRS Ombudsman’ and establishing ‘Integrity Management Cell’ (IMC) to facilitate general public/taxpayers for filing of complaints against corrupt practices...Read More

Dr. Ikramul Haq Somebody needs to tell the Prime Minister that the iniquitous prescription of the IMF calling for more taxes, austerity and high interest rates will not solve our problems—Reforms without research [Huzaima & Ikram, 2020] This is the last in the series of “tax proposals” sought by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari “True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost”―Arthur Ashe Starting on a lighter tone with a famous joke, when a person jumped off a passenger liner to save another man from drowning as...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq The biggest challenge faced by the State of Pakistan as defined in Article 7 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, not merely for governments in centre or provinces, is monstrous rising tide [in the words of Prime Minister Prime Minister “tsunami” ] of debt servicing and burgeoning...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq The coalition Government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is facing grim challenges on the fiscal front as Summary of Consolidated Federal and Provincial Fiscal Operations, 2020-21,  released by the Ministry of Finance on February 3, 2021, for the first six months of the current fiscal year, shows that even part...Read More