Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar Announces Tax Increases

The Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, having negotiated new loans from international bodies like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, has announced the government’s plan to increase taxes.

Mr. Dar, who has been on a four-day tour to the United States, addressed the media from a Pakistani embassy and stated that increase in taxes is essential to avoid more loans by the country.

The government has reportedly given assurances to the International Monetary Fund and taxpayers will have to bear the burden of additional taxes very soon.

According to Mr. Dar, loans need to be returned, and increasing taxes is the only viable option given that  the defence budget cannot be reduced and government employees already get meager salaries, so no deductions can be made there either.

However, many people believe that the burden of taxation is unfairly placed on those who dutifully pay their taxes while a major chunk of the population evades taxes. According to experts, the government needs to widen the tax net so that tax thieves can be brought into the ambit of taxation laws.

Most of the taxes are presently paid by salaried employees, while well connected businessmen and industrialists are believed to avoid their due taxes.

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Posted by Hunain Naseer on Apr 14 2014. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.