Islamabad – Former President of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt said on Sunday Pakistan has been made a hunting ground for the elites.
Influential people consider Pakistan a gold mine that is being robbed mercilessly to fill their coffers, he said.
Shahid Rasheed Butt said in a statement issued here today that no serious attempt has ever been made to expand the scope of taxes in any budget.
Tax evaders have always enjoyed a free ride while taxpayers have been broken by continuously increasing the burden on them, and this process is still going on with full force, he added.
The business leader said that the elite have been devouring the country’s resources for decades, but there is no end to their rent seeking and greed.
Shahid Rasheed Butt said that we have been made into a nation where basic needs are impossible to meet, justice, equality, and prosperity are nowhere to be found, and the country’s survival is linked to begging.
The policymakers have only one goal in mind, to serve the elite; therefore, they don’t correct the direction of the economy. Taxes are always imposed on those who are already taxed, which increases the burden on the document economy, while no effort is made to tax those who do not pay taxes, he observed.
No budget has ever been presented that tried to broaden the tax base, bring money earners into the tax net, or reduce the impact of taxes on the poor.
The whole emphasis of the tax system is to increase reliance on indirect taxes because they are easy to implement. Indirect taxes do not harm the elite but damage the masses.
He said that there is no doubt that the IMF is a monster that has ruined many low-income countries and pushed millions of people into poverty. Its purpose is to support Western countries by robbing the resources of developing countries in collaboration with other global institutions.
The countries that got rid of this conspiratorial organisation have developed rapidly, and Pakistan should do the same, for which elitism must be stopped immediately, he said.
