Only 1 or 2 % of the total population paying taxes
That is a gross misstatement and misunderstanding. These PTI wala were expected to address this ......... but they failed. They have successfully reversed any good steps that were taken by the previous government in this field. e.g.
Our biggest issue was making people understand the importance of filing their annual income tax returns, the previous government started by imposing withholding taxes on non filers at time of them performing certain transactions, it did make a difference, the next step they took is refusing these non filers to get vehicles and property registered in their name ........ that really made these people start panicking and start filing their income tax returns.
But this new government relaxed that condition of not letting non filers own any vehicles and property, well that was what local vehicle mafia and land mafia wanted .... and PTI gave them this on a platter. People will keep not filing their returns and people specially salaried class will keep suffering because of this.
Another most dumb thing they did is discourage willing people from filing their income tax returns. They introduced a most dumb provision that if people fail to file their returns by due date they will remain non filers even if they file their returns late. Now that's some incentive for people to file their returns. I don't know if this provision was introduced by PMLN but PTI did surely fail to reverse this stupidity.
Broadening the tax base doesn't happen if you keep harassing and punishing the existing tax payers. If only they had first started with mitigating the leakage within FBR (Federal Board of Revenue) and revamping this useless corrupt idara ...... they may have saved billions.
A rickshawala, a janitor, a widow, a daily wager, a housewife, a student, a senior retired citizen, a disabled person, a security guard .......... none of them makes an annual income of PKR 400,000 ...... but they have been paying income tax in past whenever they scratched a network telephone card, withdrew more than PKR 50,000 cash in a day, or where they paid tuition fee that would be more than PKR 200,000 a year. All that income tax which got deducted went to government treasury and should have been refunded back to each one of them ........... but nobody knows where that money go. It still remains the same except for telephone cards.
Indirect taxation in Pakistan, believe me the law itself is so much complicated with numerous circulars and SROs that nobody can exactly confirm how much is being made and how much is being looted. Every single Pakistani ends up paying tax on daily basis.
And they have an online system of filing returns now, anyone who is not familiar with it needs hiring consultants to file their returns. That is another mafia exploiting people.
People here advocating (basically PTI fan boys) that high income people should be taxed more, because they studied on their own expense, got better qualifications on their own, started careers on their own, so they should pay more taxes ......... but do they understand how it feels like when you don't get anything (literally anything in return) like basic facilities, pay your own utility bills (high), pay your own medical bills (private hospitals), pay high schools fees of your children (private schools), you are responsible for your own security and safety, get humiliated whenever if God forbid you have to interact with a middle pass sarkari clerk, it totally feels like paying a monthly bhata because you are still living here.
It would have been lot better if there had been a blanket rate of tax for everyone.
