SUZUKI Mehran car (800cc) is commonly owned by citizens belonging to middle, lower middle class and taxi drivers whose incomes have been significantly eroded with the introduction of ride-hailing services.

A lifetime motor car tax ranging from Rs11,000 to Rs30,000 depending on the age of the car has been levied on a Mehran car, making it increasingly hard for the owners to arrange this huge money.

The increase in income tax rates for salaried people has nullified the benefit of meagre increase in salaries granted by the government in the budget 2019-20.

The profit on investments, the only asset of pensioners is being subjected to a 20 per cent tax, substantially reducing their meagre return.

In the wake of the promulgation of taxation policy there is a massive surge in the prices, making the life of a common man difficult. There is no mechanism in place to check the prices and the government has also not launched a crackdown to book the unscrupulous retailers.

The policy is focused only on increasing the revenue to serve debt. It is not geared towards growth rate which is already on the decline. As such the economic betterment of the underprivileged citizens is not likely to improve in the foreseeable future.

In view of the above, the Federal Board of Revenue should revisit the taxation policy to make it more judicious and give due consideration to the plight of financially weak segments of society.

Abdul Sami Khan
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2019