No tax, no right to vote: Shaukat Tarin

ISLAMABAD: Urging the traders to pay their taxes, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin Monday announced that the government would abolish all other taxes except income and GST.

Addressing the Kamyab Jawan Convention in Islamabad, Shaukat Tarin said, "We will not be forced to beg [people] to pay [their] taxes."

He told the businessmen, "We all have to pay taxes because if you do not pay taxes, you have no right to vote."

The finance adviser said that if people in the small and medium enterprises (SME) and IT sectors do not have money, the government will support them.

He assured to fully support the agriculture, SME and IT sectors to take forward the country, saying that a fund will be established to provide finances to those associated with the SMEs and IT sectors.

It is the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan to extend every possible facilitation to the youth so that they can better serve the nation, Tarin said, adding that the Kamyab Jawan Program has been started with the same purpose - to exploit the potential of the youth.

The adviser said that interest free agriculture and business loans are being provided under another initiative of the youth programme, which has been started to uplift about four million marginalised families.

Speaking on the occasion, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar said Rs30 billion have been disbursed to the youth under the Kamyab Jawan Program.

He said that a remaining Rs70 billion will be disbursed till 2023.