KARACHI: This is with reference
to Kamal Siddiqi’s article, “New taxes, old story” (November 9). Instead of
burdening those who are already in the tax net, the government can do a lot to
improve revenue collection. For a start, it can recover taxes from shopkeepers
in markets all over the country that sell smuggled goods, like the Karkhano
Bazaar in Hayatabad, Peshawar. Only filers of tax returns should be allowed to
buy and sell shares, motor vehicles, plots, apartments, bungalows and
buildings.
Everyone
knows that there is a huge difference between the actual price of immovable
property and the declared value, which is sometimes only 10 per cent of the
actual value. Surely, the Federal Board of Revenue is aware of this. Surely,
politicians and bureaucrats have bought plots, bungalows and apartments in the
past. Did they pay taxes on the actual values? In India, if a property is to be
sold, the owner has to inform the government of its declared sale price. If the
government feels that it is lower than the actual price, it can buy the
property from the seller and auction it off to the highest bidder. Our
government should do the same here. Of course, there will be a lot of
resistance at first, but reducing our debt should be the top priority of the
government.
Shakir
Lakhani
Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th,
2015.
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