Blaming taxpayers

EDITORIAL PUBLISHED Oct 26, 2016 02:00am

THE reason given for the low tax base of the country by the prime ministers special assistant for
revenue has to be rejected outright. According to Mr Haroon Akhtar, people themselves are to
blame for the states lax revenue effort because there is widespread evasion, the self-assessment
scheme is misused and tax notices are seen as harassment. It is true that there is a culture and
mindset of tax evasion in this country, and the deep mistrust that exists between citizens and the
state greatly complicates the task of broadening the tax base. But the tax effort is not a voluntary
programme in any country, and governments are reasonably expected to advance the revenue
interest of the state in spite of stiff opposition from vested interests in addition to the nimble efforts
of the citizenry to evade and subvert the effort.
Mr Akhtar was probably trying to tell his audience of business leaders to be more forthcoming about their
tax affairs, and complain a little less. But his tactless phrasing caused the message to miss its mark.
Indeed, people are reluctant to pay taxes, but the real problem is the non-enforcement of tax rules. The
FBR is seen as corrupt, and a culture of periodic amnesties and ad hoc exemptions has helped create the
negative attitude Mr Akhtar referred to. The PML-N itself has contributed to the problem by politicising
the tax efforts of previous governments, and then walking down the same path, bypassing parliament to
implement key decisions and offering amnesties of its own once in power. The only reason Mr Akhtar
came to the conference with no vision beyond a simple blame game is because his own party is at a loss
on how to broaden the countrys tax base. This is the main reason why he had little option but to assign
blame. Recourse to such language and narratives sets into motion a destructive series of exchanges.
Surely, people in official positions ought to exercise greater care.
Published in Dawn October 26th, 2016