Daily Times

LAHORE: Punjab Finance Minister Dr Aisha Ghous Pasha said on Sunday that domestic revenue mobilisation was the only reliable and sustainable resource for countries to fight poverty and finance essential services. She said that the UN estimated that a tax ratio of 20 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) was the minimum necessary to finance the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In Pakistan, this tax to GDP ratio increases from 8.7% in FY2012-13 to 10.5% in FY2016-17. The Punjab finance minister expressed these views while addressing a session titled: ‘Smarter taxation for better gender equality’ at First Global Conference on Taxation and SDGs at New York. Dr Aisha Ghous Pasha said that awareness of the importance of tax as the only reliable long-term resource for sustainable development had been growing in the past few years, in a global context of rising inequality, economic crisis and declining aid flows. “A fair and progressive national tax system can deliver a redistribution of wealth, curb inequalities and ensure everyone benefits from economic development. However, developing countries face great challenges in raising enough tax revenue to reduce poverty and fund essential services,” she said. The minister said that the gender implications of a short fall in revenue were significant, but despite women being more vulnerable to poverty and the most in need of essential services, there was still little understanding of the differing impact of fiscal policy, especially revenue rising, on women and men. “The first step in this regard is to carry out an informed gender analysis of tax systems, produce more practical studies and to make these studies available to civil society,” she said. She said that the quality of the tax mix was crucial to ensure that an increase in tax revenue does not fall unfairly on the poor. “Since women are more vulnerable to poverty, it is crucial to consider the consequences of taxation policy from a gender perspective. For those concerned with inequality, it is necessary to understand the structure of the tax system to see where the burden falls,” she said. Dr Aisha Ghous Pasha said that the gender biases could be explicit and implicit. “Explicit gender biases result from specific provisions of the law, regulations or proceedings that deliberately treat men and women differently. Whereas, implicit gender bias occurs where tax systems intersect with gender relations, norms and economic behavior,” she said.

Published in Daily Times, February 19^th 2018.