The Role of Taxation in Pakistan's Revival

The tax system of Pakistan continues to under-perform, in particular, in its ability to raise adequate revenues. The bases of the most important taxes, such as Personal and Corporate Income Tax and the General Sales Tax (GST), continue to be narrow and the level of tax evasion remains high. Moreover, in recent years, the Tax-to-GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ratio has seen a substantial decline. On the other hand, most of the macroeconomic fiscal adjustment in recent years has been on the expenditure side of the budget. The country's need for spending on social services such as education, health, and capital infrastructure are likely to increase in the near future as governments pursue a strategy of sustained economic growth. Most political manifestoes brought forward by political parties spell out major expenditure programmes while expressing a desire to increase tax collection. To reach the desired taxation level in Pakistan, an in-depth policy reforms programme needs to be formulated by policymakers. This will require a detailed analysis of tax structures and tax administration. An attempt has been made in this book to provide the necessary analysis.

Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Regents Professor, Economics/Director, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School, Georgia State University, USA

J. Martinez-Vazquez is Regents Professor of Economics and Director of the International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School, Georgia State University, USA. He has published over 20 books and numerous articles in academic journals, such as Econometrica, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Public Economics, and the Review of Economics and Statistics. He serves on several editorial boards and has directed multiple fiscal reform projects, having worked in over 70 countries. He has consulted with the World Bank, the IMF, the ADB, the UNDP, the IADB, and numerous country governments. He was inducted into the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences in 1997, and in 2006 he was made an Honorary Professor of China Public Finance and Public Policy Academy, Beijing. In 2011 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Vigo in Spain, and in 2012 he delivered the Raja Chelliah lecture at NIPFP in New Delhi.

Musharraf Rasool Cyan is Assistant Research Professor at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, USA. He holds a Masteras degree in Development Management from the University College, London, and a PhD in Economics from Georgia State University, USA. Cyan holds a fifteen-year professional record in the areas of tax reform, fiscal decentralization, public sector expenditure, development planning and management. He has worked for the Asian Development Bank in Pakistan (2001a2005), undertaking design of intergovernmental fiscal transfer systems at the sub-national level. He possesses a rich experience of development policy and management, and has consulted for international development organizations including the World Bank, UNDP, SADC, GIZ, DFID, and ADB. In Pakistan, he has worked as a local administrator and as Chief Economist in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He has also worked on public sector reform and policy in Afghanistan, Egypt, Nepal, Nigeria, Macedonia, and Rwanda.