Apropos reports published in your paper about budget 2015-2016. An impartial analysis of FBR viz a viz recovery of direct taxation and administrative expenses cum perks of its top heavy bureaucracy, their housing societies etc, would qualify it as another white elephant, a burden on taxpayers instead of an organisation involved in collecting direct taxes from all sources of income generated in according with existing laws and constitution. When citizens living in expensive villas spread over acres, driving expensive cars costing several millions, owning luxury yachts and private jets, pay nominal taxes, it can only happen with connivance of corrupt FBR officials. Big retail stores earning crores daily end up paying peanuts as income tax while state paid machinery tasked to collect taxes looks other way. Nowhere in the world does Internal Revenue Collection agency negotiate with taxpayers on quantum or mode of tax recovery. Tax evasion occurring in the presence of foolproof technological monitoring systems evolved is proof if any is needed of FBR being party to this crime.
Tax collection was never meant to be voluntary affair. Citizens all over world pay taxes, because of strict punitive punishments, long prison terms, heavy fines, confiscation of assets that await defaulters. Tax evasion is considered a conspiracy against any sovereign state because without these funds neither state sovereignty nor national security can be guaranteed. Role of FBR or any Internal Revenue System in the world is to monitor all sources of income, physical assets both moveable and immoveable, owned by any citizen or resident within Pakistan and abroad, their bank accounts and money transfers from within and outside country and enforce strict exemplary punishment on those who are involved in tax evasion.
The only legitimate revenues generated by FBR are through direct taxation. Imposing double taxation other than GST on citizens who have paid all their direct taxes, such as withholding tax on utilities, bank transfers, buying limousines, houses etc amounts to double jeopardy and encouraging those who evade taxes or promoting black economy. A legitimate responsible constitutional state resorts to indirect taxation only after it has exhausted all sources of direct taxation. FBR has no role in collection of indirect taxes and therefore cannot claim it as revenue generated by it.
TARIQ ALI
Lahore
There is a free for all who indulge in corruption, fraudulent practices, hoarding and black marketing in this country. With month of Ramadhan coming, upmarket retail stores like one named after Palestinian Organization Alfatah are selling fake Ajwah dates to customers are sky high prices. These stores pay nominal income tax, apart from stealing Sales Tax, but there is nobody t catch them.
FBR is too corrupt to do the right thing now. But was it FBR that struck down Income Support Levy Act or the courts? The society itself is hypocrite and is not interested in paying, why blame the FBR alone then?
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