Daily Times

The administration of a tax system requires skills and qualification that seem to missing at the top-level in Pakistan.

No doubt, the Federal Bureau of Revenue’s input will be vital for making the system successful but it is equally necessary to also take other stakeholders on board. There is widespread support available now for the revival of the circle system. In fact, there is now complete consensus on the issue in the wake of the complete failure of the functional system. Tax officials, tax bars, and trade bodies have all endorsed the proposal.

Unfortunately, this issue was neglected in all tax reform efforts or in consultations of the advisory committees. The Tax Reform Commission (TRC) in its final report also gave no attention to revival of the circle system.

The exercise relating to tax reforms cannot be a time-bound affair and does not mean merely making changes in tax laws or suggesting cosmetic changes here and there. Reforms can be successful only if comprehensive analysis is made of the whole system, that is, tax structure, tax administration, state of the economy, taxpayers’ attitudes, revenue needs of the country, and other allied aspects.

Measures that are necessary to make a tax system functional and effective relate to: devising and running an efficient and truly independent tax justice system; provision of expert legal advice for drafting of laws; designing tax forms and procedures; innovations in tax management; broad-based personnel policy; effective intelligence, especially under-cover operations; taxpayers’ education; development of work ethics; healthy working conditions; and efficient redress of taxpayers problems.

The current income tax law is a most undesirable piece of legislation. A direct tax system intends to achieve the twin aims of maximising revenue as well as achieving socio-economic justice. But our tax system is achieving none of these objectives. The FBR has been running after small fry to broaden the tax net. For example, a person with a car and a telephone connection is required to file a tax return regardless of whether he has taxable income or not. Such an exercise generates tremendous unproductive and wasteful workload, without any significant revenue gain. It strengthens feelings that the government is unable to tackle hardened tax evaders (for example, sharks at stock exchanges) and is unduly harsh on salary and wage earners. This generates an impression that the latter are being made to bear the major burden of taxes. The consequence is that ordinary people, who generally think of themselves as honourable and honest, may end up advising others to avoid taxes.

Fair taxation is at the heart of establishing a true social democracy, which we lack. Complex laws and cumbersome procedures give unbridled powers and discretion to tax authorities and these should be discarded if we want real and meaningful tax reforms.

It is a sad fact and bitter reality that the parliamentarians have failed to enact fiscal laws through consultative process, as ordained by the Supreme Court in CIT v Eily Lilly & Others 2009. The following SC observation is noteworthy: “Since the creation of Pakistan we have not been able to frame any Income Tax Act duly debated in the Assembly. Both the Ordinances were promulgated during the Martial Law Regime otherwise the Constitution has prescribed a four month life of an Ordinance in case the Ordinance is not be placed before the Assembly and it shall be enacted as an Act then the Ordinance will automatically cease to exist. This aspect also reveals that the Constitution has cast duty upon the legislative body to frame the laws within the parameters prescribed under the scheme of the Constitution. The fact that the Ordinance in question was issued and various amendments were incorporated before and even after the enforcement of the Ordinance 2001 raises the controversy that the Ordinance in question was promulgated without meticulous debate on the subject due to which taxpayers and concerned departments were compelled to agitate the issues in different courts.”

Our elected members hardly take any interest in enacting tax laws that can make a difference in the lives of ordinary people. They themselves openly defy tax laws – Tax Directories for 2013, 2014 and 2015, published by the FBR, show that barring a few worthy exceptions, the sums paid as income tax by most of the elected representatives are laughably low.

The writer is Advocate Supreme Court and Adjunct Faculty at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). Email: ikram@huzaimaikram.com; Twitter: @drikramulhaq