The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered the withdrawal of recent increase in petroleum prices imposed by the new government in the budget for the year 2013-14 and observed in a short order that government was not authorized to impose additional tax as well. The government had imposed the implementation of tax increases under an archaic Provisional Collection Taxes Act 1931, even before the advent of new financial year. As a result, prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed in the recent days. The SC observed that Act of 1931 is in contravention of the Article 70 of the Constitution of Pakistan and ordered the government to return all additional collected taxes.
The irony is that while the lower classes are facing the heat due to the increased taxes and spiraling prices, tax reductions have been announced for those who are drawing hefty salaries. So how can one call this a pro-people government? During the election campaign, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) promised to the people that every penny of their looted wealth would be brought back to the country. Now, there is dead silence on that. According to the director of a Swiss Bank, “Pakistanis are poor but Pakistan isn’t a poor country.” He added that “$ 97 billion of Pakistan is deposited in Swiss banks and if this money was utilized for the welfare of Pakistan and its people then Pakistan could make tax-less budget for 30 years, create 60 million jobs, carpet four-lane roads to Islamabad from any village, provide endless power supply to five hundred social projects, give every citizen rupee 20,000 salary for the next 60 years and there was no need to ask the IMF and the World Bank for loans.”
In the final analysis, the advent of PML (N) government was visualized as the end of kleptocracy and plutocracy in Pakistan, it seems that dream has gone sour any way. — Shaukat Ali, Dhahran
Taxing times for common Pakistanis
