Dr. Ikramul Haq Every year a large number of legislators—Senators, members of National and Provincial Assemblies—fail to file their annual statements of assets and liabilities to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in time. The ECP, under the law, just temporarily suspends their membership and after filing of the required statements belatedly, the same stands...Read More

Any lessons learnt? Huzaima Bukhari “Strength doesn’t lie in carrying heavy loads. Camels can do that. Strength lies in controlling your temper”— Hazrat Ali (AS) There is a general belief that a person who boasts of great physical strength is stronger compared to the one who has a frail body. This might be true if...Read More

Dr. Ikramul Haq According to a Press report, following in the footsteps of the Federal Government, the Punjab Government has decided to borrow $ 304 million from the World Bank for tax reforms. Earlier, the Federal Government obtained loan of $400 million for Pakistan Raises Revenue (PRR) Project. Such loans, though not at all required,...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it”— Frédéric Bastiat A gift is usually permanent. Creditors may forcefully take their money back from debtors,...Read More

Meaningful suggestions Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq Senate Standing Committee on Finance sent a number of meaningful, though unbinding, recommendations to the National Assembly on 21 June 2013. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar ignored all of them while making the concluding speech on the budget on 23 June 2013. The amended version of Finance Bill...Read More

Tax issues of corporate amalgamations, mergers & acquisitions Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq* INTRODUCTION In the era of globalization, cross-border amalgamations, mergers and acquisitions are very important for the international corporate growth and integration of world-wide business. The pace of such transactions has been rather sluggish in Pakistan, partly because of unfavourable or complicated...Read More

By Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq[1] Contents INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS 3.1. United Kingdom 3.2. India TAX NEUTRALITY IMPLICATIONS OF SCHEMES OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF TAX BENEFITS CAPITAL GAINS TAX EXPOSURE CONCLUSION 1.   INTRODUCTION In the era of globalization, cross-border amalgamations, mergers and acquisitions are important for international corporate growth and the integration of...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq Synopsis At present, both the centre and provinces are not collecting taxes according to their respective potential due to weak enforcement and inherent problems of an out-dated tax system. Total tax potential of Pakistan is around Rs. 12 trillion if agricultural income tax and other provincial and local taxes...Read More

Need for fast track ‘Dispute Resolution System’  Dr. Ikramul Haq Dr. Ikramul Haq, a leading international tax counsel, is a well-known author specialising in international tax, press, intellectual property, corporate and constitutional law. Dr. Ikram is Chief Partner of Lahore Law Associates (fax: +92 42 6365584, e-mail: irm@brain.net.pk; website: http://www.paktax.com.pk). He is a member of...Read More

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq Every now and then we keep on hearing from higher judiciary echelons that government must run the affairs according to the Constitution of Pakistan and follow rule of law. While this is undisputable and uncontroversial command, there is also the need for ensuring an end to the long-drawn costly...Read More