According to newspaper reports, the government is ready to put all its weight on the tax collection authorities on the federal and provincial levels to enhance its revenue collections. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has held a meeting with senior officials of the Federal Board of Revenue to prepare a comprehensive plan to increase the rates of direct taxes from the next fiscal year. It is good omen that the government has at last realized the disproportional number of indirect taxes which are the burden on the poor segments of society. Squeezing the purchasing power of common man mean a cut in the trade and industrial activities as indirect taxes always bring slump in the open market. The imposition of direct taxes will have minimum effects on the industrial output if the rate of taxes are rationalized. In this age of information, there is no secret left with any developed country with regard to its economy, finance and taxation system. What only needs to do is to adopt any foreign model after bringing changes into it to meet the local challenges. Tax collection is not an issue which can be enhanced with one order, but evolving a system is the trouble where the policymakers lack ability and vision.
The finance minister will have to use his own mind while listening to the suggestions made by the bureaucracy as increase in the tax collections should not put the entire industry in trouble. It is a routine of the policymakers to use a side of their minds and leave the other blank and ultimate result of this exercise is the failure. That is the reasons the country braces for the failures one after another in the long history of its mismanagement and mal administration. While devising taxation policies, the government forgets to understand that lower are the taxes, more are the business, trade and investment activities. Heavy and disproportional taxes close the doors for local and foreign investment. If the minister feels there should be a clear distinction between filers and non-filers, the first step should be to respect filers. They should be issued privilege cards to accept their participation in the nation building activities. The privilege card holders should be given preference in government offices, airports, public places, markets and elsewhere. In the present setup, the filers and none filers are treated with the same stick by the officials of every government agency.
Unless the government changes its mindset, the tax enhancement efforts will bring more chaos and more troubles not only for the business community, but also for the common man.
