THE reveral of the decision on tax filers does not augur well for the taxpayers who feel that they have been let down for being honest and law abiding, while freeloaders are being appeased. What about the tall promises made regarding everyone to be brought under the tax net, besides the documentation of the economy?

The fact that the number of tax filers has come down from a million plus to 800,000 is proof that people are reluctant to file returns, all because of the fact that the difference of withholding tax between a filer and non-filer is very nominal.

Over a period of time people have started thinking: why take the trouble of filing a return, when by paying a nominal amount over and above the usual tax, one can get away, with no questions asked?

Khalid B. Ismail

Islamabad

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THE recent increase in tax for the salaried class and the removal of restrictions on non-filers points to the grim reality that the real power resides only in the hands of a few influential and rich.

Faces may change, but in order to survive, you have to toe the same line. The present government disappointingly opted for the easiest course in the name of patriotism.

By doing the same thing again and again, you will always have the same results. I am very sure even Finance Minister Asad Umar himself knows that without widening the tax net and taking concrete steps to curb the black money, long-term economic stability cannot be achieved.

If you look at the lifestyle of agriculturists, industrialists, politicians and government officers and compare it to the amount of tax they pay annually, any sane mind will be puzzled.

All this illogical economic equilibrium cannot go on without the approval and understanding from the top. Unfortunately, further squeezing the already crushed salaried class will only alienate a section of intellectuals who understand the real dynamics of action being taken.

The finance ministry should try to learn from the West and come up with new ideas to make Pakistan an economically stable and self-sufficient country.

Saad Moin

Karachi

Published in Dawn, October 3rd , 2018