LAHORE: The Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee (PKRC) has called for holding the extractive industry accountable for tax and reparations.

At a seminar here on Thursday attended by civil society groups and female workers, the government was urged to put an end to systematic tax evasion practised by many corporations, particularly those in the extractive sector.

Many groups in Asia say that coal, oil, and gas companies should not be granted tax holidays and incentives and instead should be subject to a rapid, equitable, and just phase-out.

Farooq Tariq, the general secretary of the Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee, said that on the global day of tax justice, various civil society organizations from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, and other parts of Asia are demanding mining companies be strictly regulated and properly taxed for their profits on oil, minerals, and gas extraction, and for governments to start shifting away from extractive industries and economies.

A report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, cited by Saima Zia of the Crofter Foundation, revealed that mining corporations frequently transfer income and wealth through shell companies set up in nations with low tax rates and other business strategies.

The corporations indulge in corruption to obtain mining licenses, and such tactics must stop. Governments need to do more to curb such practices.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2022