The Suddle Commission, formed by the Supreme Court, has concluded its deliberations with findings that two individuals involved were found to have allegedly evaded tax to the tune of Rs120 billion and Rs50 million individually.

Tax evasion is considered to be the biggest financial crime against a modern state because it leads to depriving it of funds necessary for provision of health, education, welfare, basic infrastructure necessary to provide justice and maintain law and order.

The state seems to be already collapsing in Pakistan, where more funds are collected through extortion from traders in Karachi than is collected legally by the FBR.

Either the writ of law reigns supreme or we will assume that only fools and little people pay taxes in this country, a view which an American billionaire, Leona Helmsley, once dared to express and ended up facing imprisonment for crime of tax evasion.

MALIK TARIQ ALI Bloomington, USA

Opinion

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