This is apropos a Business Recorder op-ed "General's 'general law' vs 'special law'" carried by the newspaper yesterday. The writers, Huzaima Bukhari & Dr Ikramul Haq, have argued, among other things, that "The power of 'Revenuecracy' lies in "complexities" of tax codes and they exercise arbitrary powers through rules for that even they do not require the approval of Parliament. They will never prepare simple law facilitating the citizens."

The writers are absolutely right. But I, through this letter, want to state that generally taxation systems across the world are complicated. Pakistan's taxation system is one of the most intricate and tangled systems. But the question is: what is our parliament doing in this regard? In my view, our parliamentarians are doing nothing. They need to study the evolution of Britain's taxes and parliament's historical role in the process.

Subhan Rahmatullah (Karachi)

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