Govt Has the Data of 700,000 People Who Don’t Pay Taxes: Finance Minister

One of the major issues, that Pakistan’s fragile economy has been beset with for a long period, is resource mobilization and increasing the low tax to GDP ratio in the country. Successive governments, after coming into power, have made tall claims and pledges to address this fundamental flaw and put the country on the right track economically. But these claims and pledges were never put into action. This is one of the fundamental reasons why the country is currently in a mess. But it seems the incumbent government has the realization and the will to tackle the challenge. The current government has taken some key measures to increase the country’s tax base to jack up the tax to GDP ratio, which has been the lowest in the region. ALSO READ Asad Umar Defends Against BBC’s Claims That Govt Can’t Handle the Economic Crises Finance Minister Asad Umar has said that the government has collected data of 700,000 potential taxpayers. These persons should pay taxes on their income, they weren’t paying taxes. He added that now no stone would be left unturned to bring these people in the tax net. Talking to a private news channel, he said that agreements with foreign countries have been made to identify the people who keep their money outside the country or hide it to avoid tax. ALSO READ Pakistan in Talks With Chinese Banks for $2 Billion in Commercial Loans The Minister said that 152,000 people’s data has been retrieved and soon the government would have more information about the money hidden abroad. Commenting on the rising dollar against the rupee, he held the previous government responsible for it. Asad Umar said that the PTI government has provided a conducive environment for investors and hoped that overseas Pakistanis would also invest here in coming days. He said Pakistan would rise economically after two years.