No surprise

This letter refers to the news report ‘Miftah Ismail stresses need to tax real estate sector’ (July 30, 2023). Additionally, the report shows that Miftah Ismail wants other sectors like retail and agricultural – hitherto untaxed or just nominally taxed – to be brought under appropriate level of taxation. He also stressed the need for documentation of the economy to prevent massive tax-evasion.

He also revealed that, due to getting an ample share of the national revenue to fiddle around with through the NFC award, the provinces feel no need to make serious efforts to raise additional revenue. Doing so could affect their vote bank and also spoil relations with the big names in real estate. So, it is no surprise that Ishaq Dar has ruled out imposing new taxes on the agriculture and real estate sectors.

SRH Hashmi

Karachi