Lights, camera, action - tax! Wait a minute that wasn't part of the cue sheet. Well, it wasn't but it just might as well be, as the government is planning to bring entertainment industry in the tax net. The move aimed at bettering the government's fiscal position will now tax the income of cinemas & cinematographers, actors & directors, models & stage performers and other folks from the showbiz industry.
While this seems like a reasonable idea at one end, considering that many in the showbiz industry make good money; at the other, however, there are several reasons why the government shouldn't.
First, those involved in the industry are few and far between, relative to other service sector industries such as banking, insurance, telecom, real estate, consulting and hospitality etc, while those who enjoy lucrative remuneration among them are even fewer. Moreover, the entertainment industry in Pakistan is still at a nascent stage compared to other soft businesses. So it's a bit uncanny that while the parliamentarians have said 'no' to tax reforms, despite many promises, the government is looking for ways and means to tax these small number of people trying to lighten up other peoples' lives through their act.
Second, while there is no denying that some of these entertainers make an enormous amount of money at times, there is also no denying that a significant part of their earnings are rather 'infrequent' or 'hawai' as aptly termed in Urdu. So, in effect, their average pay is relatively lower than widely perceived.
Third, taxing artists -- especially likes of musicians and stage performers - is counter productive to art owing to the widespread abuse of intellectual property rights in the country. This abuse is more taxing than any form of personal tax, because a week, if not a day, after an original artistic work is released, its pirated copies start penetrating the market, thereby undercutting the earnings of the artist. Lastly, the government should instead promote the industry, keeping in mind the much needed image building exercise the country needs - after all, somebody needs to tackle the war, conflict, death and destruction image that has unfortunately been associated with Pakistan. Besides, if India can attract the world with its magical mystery tour in its cultural present and past, Pakistan can at least do half the same.
This is not to say that the government shouldn't tax the industry at all, but a call to authorities to be considerate on the industry, and rather pay more attention to sectors where real opportunities lie, such as the agriculture and services (sans entertainment) sector.
And since we are at it, here is an interesting observation: terrestrial media -- specifically state-run PTV -- and low-priced entertainment offerings -- such as cinemas, local films and TV dramas -- have lost ground over the last many years despite the recent media boom.
While the seeds of enlightened moderation yielded abundant entertainment between 2002 and 2008, it was, just like the economic growth of that time, confined mostly to urban centres, mediated mainly through private satellite channels. For the rest, life was becoming duller than usual.