No, Mr Dar, an amnesty is not the
solution!
Dear Mr Ishaq Dar,
It
is reported that you have directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)
to call all stakeholders in the property sector
to find a solution to a problem which is supposed to have been created by your
government. What problem? Is it a problem to finally do something which should
have been done long ago? It is in the supreme national interest to levy taxes
on the actual value of properties, rather than on the (mis)declared low values.
To give
just one example, in DHA Karachi, taxes were levied at the rate of Rs1,650 per square yard, while the actual price of the plots was
Rs155,000 per square yard. Thus, on every plot of 500 square yards, the
government was losing at least five million rupees whenever ownership changed
hands. When you consider that there are millions of such plots all over the
country which are sold and purchased, the loss to the national exchequer would
be in billions every month.
There
was a time when every man dreamed of building his own house during his lifetime
with his savings. But property prices have multiplied manifold, so that it is
now impossible for the common man to buy a plot and build a house of his own.
Speculators have been manipulating property prices, which started escalating in
2003,
when the value of a million rupee apartment suddenly rose to three million.
After that, there has been no looking back, with prices of flats now being
seven times they were five years ago. There is no way a lower middle-class
family can buy a decent apartment now.
They
will tell you, Mr Dar, that there will be flight of capital if the government
sticks to its stand. They will say that there will be collusion between those
evaluating property values and taxpayers, and thus the government will suffer.
Please remember, Mr Dar, that flight of capital was taking place even
when tax thieves were looting the
country right and left.
Another amnesty, Mr Dar?
Concealment
of income is a major crime and should be harshly dealt with. Don’t you
know that after every such tax amnesty, the looters have been able to whiten their black money by paying only
2-3% on evaded income, and then they have continued evading taxes while poor
honest taxpayers who have been paying up to 30% tax on their earnings
look on helplessly? In the past, we have seen many such amnesty schemes, which only resulted in
tax thieves enriching themselves by paying only 2-3% penalties on the looted
wealth, while frustrated honest taxpayers seriously considered migrating to
other countries where they wouldn’t be surrounded by thieves and criminals.
This
country is embroiled in a war, Mr Dar. The nation needs every rupee it can get
if the country is to be saved. Please enforce the law; please recover 30% of
the concealed income from these dacoits. If you wish, you can exempt them from
30% penalty and two years of imprisonment for the moment. Just this time, Mr
Dar, just once, punish them and give them with what they deserve, and see how these
criminals suddenly become model law-abiding citizens for ever. The choice is
yours, Mr Dar, this is a golden chance to save the country, please don’t
waiver, please remain tough. If you give in, future generations will suffer and
history will never forgive you and your government.
Shakir Lakhani
Engineer, teacher, industrialist, associated with
petroleum/chemical industries for many years. Loves writing, and (in the
opinion of most of those who know him), mentally unbalanced. He tweets
@shakirlakhani (twitter.com/shakirlakhani)
https://tribune.com.pk/article/37096/no-mr-dar-an-amnesty-is-not-the-solution
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