Agri-tax failure

THE first year of Pakistan’s unified agriculture income tax regime has produced an outcome that should surprise no one. Despite sweeping legislation introduced under the IMF programme, provincial governments collected barely Rs5.62bn, or less than 2pc of the Rs306bn declared by taxpayers in agricultural income. Clearly, legislation alone cannot overcome entrenched political interests. For decades, agricultural income has been one of the most glaring anomalies in our tax system. While salaried...

By none@none.com (Editorial)