ISLAMABAD: MNA Sharmila Faruqui on Wednesday urged the government to collect maximum taxes to pay off loans in order to save state-owned assets such as Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) from privatisation.

“Pakistan is selling its assets such as Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and other state-owned enterprises to pay off the country’s loans. However, loans can be paid off if the government takes stringent measures to collect taxes by bringing everyone into the tax net,” Ms Faruqui said.

The suggestion was made to a generic reply from the government to a question she had asked earlier about steps being taken by the government to strengthen regulatory frameworks, enhance financial transparency, combat financial crimes to protect Pakistan’s economy and financial integrity considering the challenges posed by illicit financial flows, tax evasion and money laundering.

Speaking on the floor of the house during the Question Answer session of the National Assembly, Sharmila Faruqui drew the attention to a confession from the previous chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) who conceded that there was a tax lapse of Rs6 trillion while hinting his “helplessness” or “incompetence” to catch tax thieves.

“The current FBR head has made similar shocking revelations, when he said that there was a sales tax evasion worth Rs3.4 trillion.

“The top 5pc of the big business owners were cheating on their taxes. It is commendable that the government has made arrests for the first time in such a case,” the MNA said as she inquired about measures being taken to curb tax evasion that ran into trillions of rupees.

Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Ali Pervez Malik, in his response, said corrective measures were underway and the prime minister was taking interest in tax reforms especially through digitalisation and automation to apprehend tax evaders.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2024