Taxation 101

Once again, Managing Director IMF Kristalina Georgieva has told our government to collect more taxes from the wealthy while protecting the poor. There is no rocket science involved in this, because this is exactly the practice that has been adopted by most advanced nations for decades. Our inability to follow through on this simple prescription is the root cause of our economic ills. A country must have enough revenues to conduct the affairs of state, provide welfare to the most deprived, and invest in human resource development by promoting education, health etc. Indirect taxation is only levied after a state has exhausted all avenues of direct taxation. Yet, since 1958, every government has subsidized the elite.

Malik Tariq Ali

Lahore