Rolling out the red carpet -DAWN Magazine; March 9, 2003

March 9, 2003

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Rolling out the red carpet

THE much-lampooned Central Board of Revenue is on a charm offensive, beginning with the big tax-payers following its new policy of using far more of the carrot and far less of the cane to get the best results.

The CBR does not want the big tax-payers to rub shoulders with other tax-payers, or even their lawyers or auditors. It has set up a large tax-payers unit in Karachi, which means the big and small tax-payers would not even cross each other’s path. The large tax-payers unit is housed in the spacious Pakistan Insurance Corporation Building in Lalazar, adjacent to the PNSC Building, where the taxation chiefs will have all the time to deal with the total of 298 large tax-payers in a whole year, which works out to even less than one tax-payer per day. And it deals with not only Income Tax, but also Sales Tax and Central Excise Duty.

Ultimately, this charm offensive will peter down to the small tax-payers, following the policy of increasing automation in the system which seeks to minimize the contact between taxation officers and the tax-payers. The office initially set up in Karachi will be replicated in Lahore and Islamabad, where Pakistan Tobacco has its head offices and pays plenty of CED and Sales Tax.

The large tax-payers are important. The suave director general of the unit told the members of the Metropolitan Rotary Club that 100 top tax-payers paid 28 per cent of the Income Tax, 38pc Sales Tax and 40pc CED. Initially, the number of large tax-payers targeted by the new unit was quite large, but 854 of them sought exemptions and exemption certificates were given to as many as 872, and 89 were refused to their position clarified for inclusion in the big tax-payers list. Now 298 big tax payers, who are not individuals but companies, are with the unit and the chiefs have all the time, tact and patience for them, along with tea and coffee.

To qualify for coming under the large tax-payers unit, a company has to have a turnover of Rs500 million. So, while some companies get in following their better performance, some companies drop out. An example was Adamjee Insurance.

After Akhtar Jameel explained his methodology that is part of the new CBR norms under pressure from the IMF as well, the head of a foreign company there told me he had turned up before the Large Unit chiefs last year and the treatment meted out to him was as smooth as explained that afternoon.

The government expects the unit to increase its tax revenues by 25pc a year, but it was not firm on the target if all other conditions are fulfilled by the unit.

Asif Ikram, chief of Dupont Pakistan, presided over the meeting with Saleem Majeedullah as secretary of the club. The listeners were big tax-payers such as Jehangir Siddiqui, Iqbal Lakhani, ABN Ambro chief, Naveed Khan and Hanif Adamjee. Akhtar Jameel had an easy time answering questions.

KHURSHID KASURI

THE foreign minister, Khurshid Kasuri, was in town with his wife, Mona Kasuri, who runs the Beacon House school network all around the country. They were on their way to Malaysia to participate in the Non-Aligned Summit, to be attended by President Musharraf. And Wajid Jawad, fellow PML(Q) leader whose daughter married Kasuri’s son last year, held a dinner to meet the Kasuris and invited a variety of guests.

Former Sindh Governor, Moinuddin Haider, was there taking part in the lively political discussion, but he was denying he had a hand in the choice of Sindh government. The governor of the State Bank, Dr Ishrat Husain, was there answering a great many questions on economic policy from a visiting Pakistani who had diverse suggestions. Ali Raza of the National Bank was totally focused on cricket and the performance of various teams.

Irfan Marwat, the provincial education minister, was there. He says he is doing a great deal to clean up the education department. He said that he found that Rs260 million had been transferred from the department two days before he became the minister. He was told the money had been given to students and teachers. On detailed inquiry, he found no one had received the amount. So he had handed over the case to NAB.

He is also hoping to recover the nearly 2,500 ghost schools from waderas and others, and do away with the many thousands of ghost teachers and medical workers.

Although the host and the chief guests were PML(Q) figures, a number of non leaders were also there. Among them were Naveed Qamar of PPP, Javed Jabbar of Millat Party, and Dr Arif Alavi of Tehrik-i-Insaaf.

ACCOMPLISHED SPANISH ENVOY

NOT many ambassadors are coming down to Karachi from Islamabad due to the violence here and their diplomatic preoccupation in the federal capital. If they do, they go back quick. So, the new Spanish ambassador who has succeeded a lady took some six months to come down to the city. But once here, he was keen to meet as many people as possible, and get to know them well.

Antonio Segura Moris is a diplomat with 30 years experience and was ambassador to Indonesia and Singapore before he came here. In the foreign office at Madrid, he had handled varied subjects from time to time, and so it is easy to talk on any of them with the 57-year old envoy, a lawyer by profession before he turned diplomat. His career is outstanding. He received not only two high awards from his own government, but also another from Sweden where he had served, and Jordan.

At the dinner hosted by him and the Honorary Consul-General of Spain, M.I. Akbar, he met a great many important or interesting persons beginning with Shaukat Aziz, advisor to the premier on finance, and a clutch of top bankers.

He began his foreign service with Japan where he was third secretary in the embassy, and then became first secretary in the embassy in China. He was then minister in the embassy in Sweden, consul-general in Cape Town, South Africa and minister in Argentina.

Zubair Soomro of Citibank, Shaukat Tareen of Union Bank, Ali Raza of National Bank and Aftab Manzoor of Muslim Commercial Bank were there.

The new German Consul-General, Verena Grafin von Roedern, was there. She had just arrived to fill the long gap in the city following the departure of Ingmar Brentle as ambassador to Male. A tall, slim and elegant lady, she was earlier the consul-general in Calcutta and was introduced to a great many people there that night.

Political leaders were there too, including PPP leader Qaim Ali Shah, former chief minister of Sindh, from across the street. The US Consul-General, John Bauman, was asking Nafis Siddiqui about winning the Senate elections, with Zia Isphani supporting the PPP candidate.

M.I. Akbar’s son, Ghous, who manages the Princeton Review as well, was greeting the guests along with his sister, Laiq, who looks after Air-Italia.

The ambassador hopes to come around soon and meet more of the Karachiites and get to know some of the interesting people better.

THE NEW MNA

IT was the first major reception hosted by Sherry Rahman, the new PPP MNA and her husband, Nadeem Hussain, of the Citibank London, two days before the Senate elections. The entire Sindh PPP leadership was there, but the national chief, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, was in Islamabad.

Former chief minister of Sindh, Aftab Shaban Mirani, was there as also Qaim Ali Shah, and the Sindh PPP chief, Nisar Khuhro.

The vigorous secretary general of the PPP, Raza Rabbani, was there as well as the rather quiet Prof N.D. Khan who did not contest the elections.

Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman came from Hyderabad where he is now the Nazim. He has lost a lot of weight, maybe due to the burden of office.

Hakim Ali Zardari and his wife Timmy were being greeted by the PPP leaders.

Of course, it was not a show of all PPP faithfuls. Javed Jabbar, one-time minister in the PPP cabinet and now of the Millat Party, was there. Dr Farooq Sattar of the MQM was also there with his wife, and had to answer a number of questions.

A number of women MNAs and MPAs were there. But not many were known to the non-PPP guests. But Fauzia Wahab, who has been working for the party for long and has become a MNA was there and was known to many guests.

The US Consul-General turned up there in black tie before going off to a Valentine ball. The British Deputy High Commissioner was there with his wife, Sue, who was fascinated by the paintings and sculptures all around. She went around looking at them admiringly. The hosts have certainly a large collection of objects of art, including major paintings.

Masuma Hasan, former ambassador, was there with husband, Fatehyab Ali Khan who, as president of the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs, is deeply concerned with the Iraqi war crisis.

They were all rushing off to another PPP party at the Defence Authority Golf Club as a part of the Senate election round to keep the PPP voters together and make them vote for PPP for sure.

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