Considering the government’s unending fiscal crunch, any FBR measures to expand the tax base are more than welcome. Yet tax authorities will have to go beyond usual rhetoric for the posture to have any meaningful impact. Also, since our tax-to-GDP ratio is among the most embarrassing anywhere, the FBR will seriously have to move beyond checking NTN and STRN number displays at marketplaces to indicate better times ahead for the national kitty.
The problem, unfortunately, has not been confined to the FBR for some time now. Tax evasion is a national menace, one that assumed political connotations long, long ago. So long as the highest offices in the government do not make examples out of the biggest troublemakers, many others will simply not fall in line. But such adventures are invariably non-starters. Nobody can fault a government for not initiating reforms that will undo much of its support base, for obvious reasons. And we’re back to square one. Little else for the Bureau to do then, save milk those willing that much more.
Yet there is a bigger question for the government to consider. Times have changed. So has Islamabad’s fiscal position. Year upon year of rampant tax evasion, PSE drain and inability to expand exports has left Islamabad on very thin ice financially. Other changes, far more ominous, are also afoot. All over the world, people with little faith in governments have mobilised in ways never before. From the Arab Spring to Occupy movements in the west, the present era is increasingly being defined by popular revolts that have already undone long-standing structures.
Islamabad will do well to learn an important lesson well before currents of change bring far more painful enlightenment. Also, if those in power continue to exercise restraint for fear of upsetting loyal cadres, they will not last beyond the general election anyway. Time has come for difficult decisions not just within the FBR.