Tax evaders in various industries not to be spared: Khawaja Asif

Islamabad: Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Friday said there was dire need to improve the tax culture in the country and those industrialists involved in evasion should not be spared.

Speaking here at the National Assembly, the minister said that "tax culture would have to be improved in various industries" including tobacco and imported vehicles as well as electronic equipment.

He said that two industries in the tobacco sector in Pakistan had a total of 60 percent share in the market and these were paying taxes amounting to Rs. 151 billion per annum. The remaining tobacco industries with a share of 40 percent were paying only Rs. two billion tax because of their involvement in tax evasion through various means.

These tax evaders, he said, had contacts in political circles and even reached the parliament to protect their vested interests. The minister said that all politicians and those at the helm of affairs should help to expose tax evaders.

He stressed the need to improve tax culture in the country and to bring all into the tax net by ending inequality.

Khawaja Muhammad Asif lauded Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail and his team for hard work in steering the country out of the economic crisis. “We would find a way out after crossing the landmines which the previous government left for us in the economic sector and the country would be on the right track of prosperity and development”, he added.

He also appreciated Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif who accepted the challenge to take the country out of the economic crisis.