Business leader and former President of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt, said on Thursday that the government’s decision to significantly increase tax revenue in three years is correct. He said that the business community across the country supports the government’s decisions.

The culture of tax evasion is common in Pakistan. He added that if tax revenue does not increase, the country will need loans, and no facilities will be provided to the people.

Shahid Rashid Butt said in a statement issued here that Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has indicated to increase in the tax-to-GDP ratio from 10.3 per cent to 13.5 per cent in the next three years, which is indispensable for the country’s financial stability.

He said that to increase tax revenue, the non-taxpaying and low-tax-paying sectors should be targeted, and the tax imposed on salaried individuals should be reduced. He noted that the current government’s measures to increase tax revenue have made the lives of ordinary people miserable while sparing the wealthy.

Shahid Rashid Butt said that the government should end the policy of continuously increasing the burden on taxpayers and tightening the noose against tax evaders. He noted that in a country with a population of 250 million, only 4.8 million people pay income tax.

He observed that many sections of society who pay utility bills worth lakhs of rupees a month and travel abroad are still outside the tax net.

The business leader said that bringing such sections into the tax net could quickly increase the number of taxpayers.

He underlined that along with increasing the tax net, it is also essential to stop tax evasion because many big companies collect sales tax from the public but do not deposit it in the government treasury, and no action is taken against them, which reveals the weaknesses of our tax system.

He said that the country could not move forward without correcting these issues.