Inquiry into tax evasion of trading community

from Good Governance Forum
to mail@supremecourt.gov.pk
date Jun 29, 2009 9:22 AM
subject Inquiry into tax evasion of trading community
mailed-by gmail.com


Hon'ble Chief Justice of Pakistan
Islamabad

Your Honour:

As the Founder & Moderator of the Good Governance Forum, the Largest, Most Diversified, Most Globally Searched forum and the First of its Kind in Pakistan, I bring it to the notice of Your Honour the massive tax evasion and fraud of the trading community throughout the country. The tax evasion of the traders in Jodia Bazar (Karachi), Akbari Mandi (Lahore) and Nankari Bazar (Rawalpindi) alone runs into billions of rupees, not to speak of traders in similar big markets/mandis in other parts of the country.

The tax evasion of the trading community has been causing hyper inflation in the country by forcing the federal and provincial governments to resort to taxation of one sort or the other to meet their revenue targets. At the same time, the ill-gotten money has been creating social imbalances, economic deprivation of teeming millions and adding to inequitable distribution of wealth in the country.

The Ministry of Finance, to the best of our knowledge, has NO databank of the traders in the country in the first place. It is indeed shocking that only 1.1 to 1.5 million out of 170 million are registered as tax payers in the whole of Pakistan. There might be 1.1 to 1.5 million traders in Karachi alone whose multiple businesses under fictitious names are un-registered.

Respectfully, I submit to Your Honour to direct the Ministry of Finance to:

1. carry out a country-wide survey of the traders by outsourcing the task to private organizations through open tenders to enlist each and every trader in the country.

2. carry out house to house survey by outsourcing the task to private organizations through open tenders to find out the ownership of the property.

3. carry out a thorough study of the importers by outsourcing the task to private organizations through open tenders to locate the real importers behind the fictitious names.

The Ministry of Finance should be able to complete the surveys during the fiscal year 2009-2010 in major towns of Pakistan in the first phase.

Submitted for due consideration on priority.

Cordially,


signed by
Mumtaz A. Piracha
Founder & Moderator
Good Governance Forum
Pakistan
Tel: 042-5503936
Cell: 0300-2265424