Through your esteemed newspaper I want to draw the attention of the readers to the problem of taxation and tax payment in Pakistan. In Pakistan only 0.3 percent of the population pays taxes. However, about 7 million people of the population can pay taxes easily. This includes many groups of people of the economy such as land owning parties, rich and upper class people and also many political leaders and their family members who pay taxes equivalent to nothing. They use different sources to skip their tax payments. Mostly, the people of upper class and business class put their property under different names so that they don’t have to pay property tax. Also many working class people withdraw their income from the accounts before the income tax is levied on their earnings so that they could pay very minimal taxes and this shifts the whole burden of taxation on the shoulders of taxpayers who are mostly of upper middle and lower class groups.
The government in order to receive tax payments has levied huge indirect taxes and is continuously increasing them which disproportionately affects the poor more, since they spend more on items like fuel and food as a percentage of income than more affluent people. This in turn further skews an already unequal distribution of income and gives rise to allegations that the government, instead of taxing the rich, is making life tougher for the section of population that already lives a miserable existence.
Therefore, there is a need of an equitable national tax policy which requires that everyone and every sector with a potential tax liability should be taxed. Moreover, a temporary pause must be put by the government on the rising level of indirect taxes. Taxes must be perceived as fair and universal. Those who have little should pay little while the politically and economically powerful elite must demonstrate their stake in society by carrying its share of the tax burden.
TOOBA IBRAHIM
Karachi
