Tax collection irony

Tax collection irony

Friday, 25 Jun, 2010

A Karachi businessman recently had a heart attack when he got a notice from the Income Tax department to pay a huge sum as income tax.

It seems that his mobile phone bills alone had averaged more than fifty thousand rupees a month, even though his declared income had been only four hundred thousand rupees a year.

This, along with the fact that he had taken his family on a vacation to Malaysia and Europe last year, convinced the tax hounds that his real income was at least five times more than what he had stated on his tax returns. Nothing wrong here. Tax evaders should be made to pay. But then there is another side of the coin too. Some men have more than one wife, they spend scandalous amounts on foreign tours and alcohol, they own properties worth millions, yet they don’t pay any income tax at all, because their income is derived from agriculture. What kind of justice is this?

Whether it is earned by selling farm produce or trading in shares, all income should be taxed. Why is one section of the population taxed heavily while another is not taxed at all? Only in Pakistan can this abnormal situation exist. Shouldn’t the Supreme Court take notice of this injustice?

SHAKIR LAKHANI
Karachi
DAWN, 25 Jun, 2010