Politics Influences Pakistan's Tax Reform Efforts

Politics over tax reform

The government will market its new “small trader scheme” as an effort to bring retailers into the tax net and generate Rs50 billion annually. A cursory look would, however, reveal that it is less a tax reform initiative and more a negotiated settlement with one of Pakistan’s most under-taxed yet politically influential constituencies. The scheme offers traders with annual sales of up to Rs200 million a simplified one per cent turnover tax on a voluntary basis. Participants will face minimal c...

By [email protected] (Nasir Jamal)