In order to reach a make-or-break deal with the IMF Pakistan urgently needs to raise more taxes. The common man is already suffering due to unprecedented inflation and it would be unjustified to further burden him with taxes. In the past, several amnesty schemes have been introduced to facilitate the privileged classes by enabling them to legalise their wealth. It is time for them to pay back when the country needs liquidity badly.
Powerful interest groups that have managed to remain outside to tax net must be brought under it. Among them is the rentier class that has made windfall gains from the real estate bubble but has continued to evade even minimal levels of taxation. After over 4000 individuals having $2 billion in bank accounts turned out to be non-resident Pakistanis, there is a need to change the definition of the term to include all those people in the tax net. The government’s decision to impose a new fixed-tax scheme on small traders outside of the tax net is a step in the right direction. It was in fact a measure long due but was being delayed on account of political opportunism displayed by successive governments. The progressive tax on the super rich is badly needed at a time when the gap between the richest and the poorest is on the increase. The 13 thriving industries that have been provided numerous facilities by the government to prosper, owe it to the nation to willingly pay the 10 percent super tax required to reduce the budget deficit.
Umpteen times former PM Imran Khan lashed out at the governments led by his political rivals for sparing the rich when imposing taxes. He said it was his mission to tax those whose luxurious lifestyles did not match the amount of taxes they paid. As the coalition government makes the moneyed class share the common burden with the toiling masses, PTI is inciting the big business to refuse to be a part of the sacrifice being made by the rest of the country.
