ISLAMABAD: PPP Senator Taj Haider is an active member of Senate Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping and a number of other both standing and functional committees. He is often very well prepared on the agenda items which come under discussion in the meetings of the House as well as committees.
While speaking to Customs Today, an exclusive interview, Taj Haider termed the simplification of process for the filing of tax returns as well as lowering the rate of indirect taxes as the sole machine for increasing the revenue collection. Tax system must be simplified to the extent so that a lay man may be able to understand the value and importance of payment of taxes. This will not only promote the tax culture as well as enhance the tax net because millions of Pakistanis will join the tax net. Moreover, such a practice will also put a check on the tax evasion because lowered rates of the taxes will encourage everyone to pay taxes honestly. At present majority of people avoid payment of taxes just due to higher rates of taxes as well as permanent fear for being targeted by tax authorities for future. Once the filing of tax returns is simplified, it will also end the plundering of simple worthy clients at the hands of lawyers who charge heavily from the taxpayers merely for filling their tax forms as well as it will end the monopoly of tax related consultants who exploits the common taxpayers in the name of threats from the tax authorities. In this regard, he quoted a number of examples which he had monitored personally where lawyers for the sake of petty fees, taught ways and means to the taxpayers for paying reduced amounts of taxes.
To a question, he said that finance ministry should fix a rational and achievable revenue target because unachieved and revised revenue targets often result in dismay in the officials of tax collecting bodies. Moreover, someone must be held accountable for fixing irrational revenue targets as well as on non achievement of the said targets. In this regard, those people who proposed fixation of such unachievable revenue targets must also be held questionable. Otherwise, FBR is fully capable of enhancing volume of revenue collection if given a rational revenue target provided with a strong mechanism in this connection.
He said that Sindh province has increased the volume of sales tax collection on goods from Rs 6 billion to Rs 61 billion in four years only and Sindh could further enhance the volume of sales tax collection on services after granted permission to do this. Provinces were allowed to collect sales tax on goods under the 18th constitutional amendment with a provision that they would deposit the collected amount to the national kitty and then under the NFC award, the collected amount is provided to provinces as per their share from the national divisible pool.
To question about ongoing correspondence between the federal and Sindh governments regarding handing the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) over to the provincial government, he said that Sindh government had asked the Privatization Commission to stop further correspondence and directly come to the negotiation table for making an early decision in this regard. Moreover, the federal government must not allow the stopped function of PSM and must continue gas supply for keeping it in a running state. If the government wants to privatize PSM, it must proceed forward but not after complete destruction of the entity.
To another question about current monetary and fiscal policies of the government, Senator Taj Haider said that the federal government should follow the job and export oriented policies. Presently, Finance Ministry is pursuing an import oriented fiscal policy which is damaging the local cottage and small industry because country is relying mainly on the imports. In the wake of increasing gap between imports and exports with clear tilt towards imports, economic activities cannot be generated in the country. Moreover, to create more and more job opportunities for our human resource, we have to switch over to an export oriented fiscal policy which will lead to mass industrialization in the country.
