Pakistan - Tax Policy Report : Tapping Tax Bases for Development - Full Report
The main message of this report is that Pakistan can take measures to increase the tax to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio by around 3.5 percentage points over the next five years. In order to ensure a healthy long-run economic development, Pakis...
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Language: | English |
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World Bank
2012
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Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000334955_20090828015257 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3100 |
Summary: | The main message of this report is that
Pakistan can take measures to increase the tax to gross
domestic product (GDP) ratio by around 3.5 percentage points
over the next five years. In order to ensure a healthy
long-run economic development, Pakistan needs to embrace
substantial changes in tax policy aimed at increasing the
buoyancy of the tax system, broadening the tax bases,
reducing distortions and phasing out exemptions. Such tax
reforms are also required to deal with the risks stemming
from sustained large budget deficits. Failing to act sooner
rather than later, only makes the problem more difficult to
address without considerable instability, raises the
probability of fiscal and financial disarray at some point
in the future, and runs the risks of further constraining
policy flexibility in future. This report highlights design
ingredients for a comprehensive reform of tax policy in
Pakistan. In the final analysis, the success of tax reform
will depend less on the mechanism of taxation and more on
the politics of taxation. Beyond adequate administrative
resources and an implementation strategy, this will require
a clear political recognition of the importance of the task
and the willingness to persist with tax reform over the long haul. |
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