ISLAMABAD: After remaining in spotlight in the local media, the news regarding non-payment of income tax by parliamentarian has also got the attention of International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) and the fund is likely to take up the issue with the authorities concerned during the second review of the current loan programme scheduled for January end or early February.
According to reports regarding developments against the backdrop of the news, the fund review mission will certainly take up the issue during meeting with Pakistani economic wizards. It has been learnt that the IMF always laid stressed on the need for making parliamentarians pay not some tax but full amount of tax they owe. It also deemed that the enforcement should ensure that those who govern should pay what they owe.
The reports indicated that the IMF saw the government efforts to broaden tax base just a beginning and wanted more tangible efforts to be made in this regard.
These reports citied the IMF view point on investment incentive scheme the government had announced. The fund was of the view that scheme may cause some temporary effects but will undermine the broadening goal of improving tax collection and enforcement over time. It said that paying relatively smaller amount to get out of audit means actually to accepting broader evasion of taxes.
The report also cited the IMF concern about the incentives and will take up this issue with the authorities at the end of current month or early February so that the Fund can find out a mutually acceptable arrangement.
It said that any income whether from agriculture, industry, commerce or trade should be taxed evenly as it was not a best practice to have different treatment for income earned from different sources.
