Almost 80pc of tax revenue comes from indirect taxes: Mian Zahid

KARACHI: Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan and President of Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum Mian Zahid Hussain has said that almost 80 percent of tax revenue comes from indirect taxes in Pakistan that make the rich richer and the poor poorer, resulting in inflation, poverty, and anxiety.

He said resources flow from the top downwards in developed countries but the direction of capital in Pakistan is from the bottoms up.

Mian Zahid said that the tax potential in Pakistan is eleven thousand billion rupees annually while the collection is around 7 thousand billion. He said that here some people have a lot of wealth while many lack food.

Tens of millions have to choose between health, water, electricity, children’s education, or bread which is unfair, he added.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that the elite usually use imported luxury goods which increases the burden on the country while the middle class and the poor prefer locally manufactured goods which boosts the economy and generates employment. In societies where elites are sucking wealth, people take other paths for a good life instead of effort and ability, due to which the country begins to collapse. He noted that before the destruction of the country's economy, the moral values and politics turn ugly, while in countries where elites are kept within limits, the people develop through education and hard work.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that the fate of land reforms in Pakistan is no different from the so-called reforms in other sectors. The wealth creation model followed in Pakistan is a collection of failures compounded by decades of misguided policies. Education is a very good tool to ensure equality, but our policymakers do not pay much attention to it.

Investment in local government schools and the provision of world-class educational facilities should be ensured. The children of the elite and the common man should be educated in the same schools.

If the system of class education is abolished, the fate of the nation will change. If the economic model of Pakistan is not changed and losses of billions of rupees are not stopped, the employment opportunities for the people will decrease day by day, which will increase the anxiety which can result in riots, he warned.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023