No concession on tax rate withdrawn: Shabbar Zaidi

LAHORE: Tax affairs expert Shabbar Zaidi has said that no concession has been withdrawn on the tax rate by the government lately.

Speaking to anchorperson Muhammad Junaid in Geo News programme ‘Capital Talk’ on Thursday, he said neither any new law was enacted nor any amendment made. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) issued only a circular about the previous act, which was taken as an amendment by the people, he clarified.

He said Pakistan’s financial condition was the worst at the moment, especially the energy sector had been run in a bad way (by the previous government). He said what we call circular debt was in fact circular subsidy. “Our electricity production cost is more than its price. The government gives consumers subsidy on electricity, but does not say anything on the issue,” added the expert.

He said that the government pays Rs1000 billion subsidy on electricity every year. People should be given subsidy on transport facilities, but it is a crucial question that how much subsidy should be given and where.

Zaidi said the government was not going to abolish subsidy but improving its distribution system. He said Pakistan was not in a condition that it could give people subsidy secretly. They should be told about financial problems of the country very openly, he added.

Shabbar Zaidi wondered why our begging bowl goes empty every 10 years. “Why our current account runs in deficit always,” he asks. He regretted that the country closed down its industries during the past 40 and promoted trading. Closure of industries resulted in large-scale unemployment.

Zaidi said during the current financial year, Pakistan’s imports stood at $61 billion while exports remained as low as $25 billion. He said running industries was the job of provinces and not the federal government. One province was touted as the best in this regard, “but I feel its administrative affairs were not run aptly,” he added. The tax affairs expert said that increase in exports and decrease in imports was the signs of good governance. He called upon the PTI government to present all these facts before the public.