Haroon Akhtar, Special Adviser to Prime Minister and State Minister for Revenue, has claimed that the government would review the tax structure to facilitate taxpayers, but fell short of explaining which of the department is working on the subject matter. This is one of the typical claims made by the political leaders off and on without doing anything practical on the ground. The country is facing inherent flaws in its laws and procedures in the administrative system. The international donor organizations have on the several occasions pointed out needs for introducing structural reforms in the taxation system and financial sector, but nothing has been done other than lip service. The government authorities are in the habit of taking ad hoc measures which sometime create conflicting situation and this trend has spoiled the shape of every system in this country. Taxes are imposed through issuing decrees without applying or adopting a proper procedure. As a result, unjustified taxes rates are imposed. Some of the official use or misuse their authorities during the execution of the government policies.
The tax filing system should be as simple as paying utility bills. In this age of science and technology, where details of every person is already available with various government agencies, a comprehensive central collection and processing unit is required to do the job. When there will be minimum interference of the government officials and all the transactions and procedures will be implemented electronically, it will automatically increase the tax base and reduce corruption. The government’s task should be to encourage taxpayers to voluntarily come under tax net and earn as much as revenues without fear of coercion from any official agency. So far, every government agency wants to strictly implement the rules of business according to its understanding. This trend has discouraged every effort to build a strong revenue base. The tax to GDP ratio in Pakistan is the lowest in the world which should be enhanced to 20 percent. However, coercive measures would not help. There is a need to establish strong collaboration and liaison between the taxation authorities and the business community. The people of Pakistan are generally law abiding, but avoid coming under the tax net due to the reasons best known to the authorities. If non-tax filers are less patriotic, the filers are also not given any preference by the government departments for their patriotism.
