Regressive taxes

Those at the helm need to understand that you cannot endlessly squeeze the majority for the benefit of a few. The annual tax exemption should be raised to at least Rs8 lakhs. Anyone earning above this uniform threshold must pay direct income tax irrespective of whether they are salaried, traders, farmers etc. Instead of doing this, the state has resorted to indirect taxes. Most countries only resort to indirect taxation after they have exhausted all other options. In Pakistan, the opposite is the case. Almost all the major political parties have been unwilling to bring their favourite special interest groups into the tax net, on some pretext or the other, during their time in power.

Malik Tariq Ali

Lahore