Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Wayne Thirsk
Author-Email: 
Author-Homepage: 
Author-Workplace-Name: Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University
Author-Workplace-Homepage: http://aysps.gsu.edu/index.html
Title: Tax Policy in Pakistan: An Assessment of Major Taxes and Options for Reform
Abstract: This paper undertakes a critical evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of all of Pakistan’s major sources 
of tax revenue: the individual income tax, the corporate income tax, the sales tax, excise taxes and trade taxes on imports.
For each major tax it describes the nature of the current tax base and the rate or rate structure that is applied to that 
base. After that exercise the paper identifies certain features of each tax that raise significant concerns for tax policy 
and constitute the beginning of an agenda for future tax reform. In each case the tax policy issues that have been flagged 
are discussed within a policy framework that appeals to the broadly accepted norms of “good” taxation and international 
experience in grappling with these issues. The concluding section of this paper sets forth for consideration an array of 
tax reform proposals that attempt to address the most important flaws and problems that have been detected in Pakistan’s 
tax system.
Keywords: Pakistan, Pakistan Taxation, fiscal decentralization, revenue mobolization, sources of tax revenue
Length: 77 pages
Creation-Date: 2008-12-01
File-URL: http://icepp.gsu.edu/files/2015/03/ispwp0808.pdf
File-Format:application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0808