ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb emphasized on Wednesday it was crucial to widen the tax net by removing the “non-filer category” after presenting the first federal budget of the newly elected Pakistani administration which he said was in line with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) requirements.
The non-filer category includes those individuals or entities who, despite earning taxable income, do not file returns and refuse to be formally documented or contribute to the tax base as required.
Pakistan has faced significant challenges with tax evasion and a low ratio of tax filers compared to its population. A considerable number of potential taxpayers either avoid taxes altogether or do not file their returns, which leads to substantial revenue losses for the government.
Speaking to Pakistan’s Geo TV, Aurangzeb said he wanted to take the country to a sustainable tax-to-GDP ratio in the next three to five years.
“I don’t understand this term of non-filer,” he said. “This is the only country where there is a category of non-filers. What is a non-filer? Either you are paying taxes and you are on the active tax list or you are not.”
“The eventual end goal is that we have to eliminate this non-filer category from this country,” he added.
The government has set an ambitious revenue collection target of Rs13 trillion, which comes to about $47 billion, in the next fiscal year raise the overall tax-to-GDP ratio of 9.5 percent.
The minister said the budget had introduced punitive measures for those who refused to file taxes so they thought twice before refusing to bring their income on record.
Asked about the enforcement of tax reforms, he said the government was striving to digitize the whole system.
“The end-to-end digitization will help us with several things,” he said. “Why don’t people want to come into the [tax] net? They are afraid of being harassed. They think they will not be treated properly. The more we remove the human intervention in FBR [Federal Board of Revenue], that is the way to create trust and earn trust.”
Aurangzeb said the government had decided to treat health, education and agriculture as priority sectors and protected the salaried class.
However, he reiterated that the government’s aim was to move a direction where everyone was contributing to the national economy.
Pakistan’s finance chief pushes tax reforms matching IMF guidelines following budget presentation
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Pakistan’s finance chief pushes tax reforms matching IMF guidelines following budget presentation
- Muhammad Aurangzeb says the government is striving to digitize tax system for improved revenue collection
- He says that he wants to take the country to a more sustainable tax-to-GDP ratio in the next three to five years
UN torture expert decries Pakistan ex-PM Khan’s detention
- Khan’s party alleges government is holding him in solitary confinement, barring prison visits
- Pakistan’s government rejects allegations former premier is being denied basic rights in prison
GENEVA: Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan is being held in conditions that could amount to torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on torture warned Friday.
Alice Jill Edwards urged Pakistan to take immediate and effective action to address reports of the 73-year-old’s inhumane and undignified detention conditions.
“I call on Pakistani authorities to ensure that Khan’s conditions of detention fully comply with international norms and standards,” Edwards said in a statement.
“Since his transfer to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on September 26, 2023, Imran Khan has reportedly been held for excessive periods in solitary confinement, confined for 23 hours a day in his cell, and with highly restricted access to the outside world,” she said.
“His cell is reportedly under constant camera surveillance.”
Khan an all-rounder who captained Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, upended Pakistani politics by becoming the prime minister in 2018.
Edwards said prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement is prohibited under international human rights law and constitutes a form of psychological torture when it lasts longer than 15 days.
“Khan’s solitary confinement should be lifted without delay. Not only is it an unlawful measure, extended isolation can bring about very harmful consequences for his physical and mental health,” she said.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the Human Rights Council. They do not, therefore, speak for the United Nations itself.
Initially a strong backer of the country’s powerful military leadership, Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2022, and has since been jailed on a slew of corruption charges that he denies.
He has accused the military of orchestrating his downfall and pursuing his Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and its allies.
Khan’s supporters say he is being denied prison visits from lawyers and family after a fiery social media post this month accusing army leader Field Marshal Asim Munir of persecuting him.
According to information Edwards has received, visits from Khan’s lawyers and relatives are frequently interrupted or ended prematurely, while he is held in a small cell lacking natural light and adequate ventilation.
“Anyone deprived of liberty must be treated with humanity and dignity,” the UN expert said.
“Detention conditions must reflect the individual’s age and health situation, including appropriate sleeping arrangements, climatic protection, adequate space, lighting, heating, and ventilation.”
Edwards has raised Khan’s situation with the Pakistani government.
