PAKISTANI professionals and businessmen do not defraud taxes; they have been trying to save taxes to get the bare basics for their families.

They buy generators, inverter, UPS, and solar energy systems because the government has failed to provide a reliable power supply. They install their own clean water systems because the government has failed to provide safe drinking water.

They hire security guards and use CCTV cameras because the government has failed to ensure their safety, while the politicians and cronies travel with armed escorts with our money.

They send their children to private schools because the government has failed to provide good schools.

They go to private hospitals because the government has failed to provide decent medical care. The President’s fund pays the full bill for government ministers and their cronies to go abroad for treatment. They buy and maintain cars because the government has failed to provide decent public transportation.

What does the taxpayer get in return on retirement when he needs it most to survive? Nothing; not even social security. His own EPF and ETF too is embezzled by the government.

Throughout his lifetime, his earnings are used by the government to give subsidies to the masses for buying votes.

What else does the government do with our tax money? It operates police stations which work mainly for politicians. It operates hospitals which fail to treat the needy.

Had our government provided the above as done by the governments of civilised countries, why would anyone evade taxes?

Billions of dollars are lying in foreign banks. A business works at a margin of between two per cent and 10pc, whereas the government takes 30pc of his income to cover its wasteful expenditure. Is it at all fair?

That is why Pakistanis do not want to pay taxes.

Hafiz Muhammad Uzair
Karachi

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2019