Revenuecracy, tax policy and targets

An opinion column in The Express Tribune argues that Pakistan needs a rational tax policy more than another revenue collection machine. The writer separates a policy that determines who ought to contribute by ability from an approach that asks where money can be gathered fastest. He uses the term 'Revenuecracy', coined by the late Dr Pervez Tahir, for a system that taxes accessibility rather than capacity.

The column notes that a May 2026 IMF review of the Extended Fund Facility sets a floor for FBR's net tax collections. From December 2026 that floor becomes a quantitative performance criterion, while retailers and provincial bodies are tracked separately. The writer stresses that the Fund lacks territory and an army, so its leverage works through financing conditions. He argues the key issue is why Pakistan keeps needing financing again and again.

The column blames successive governments for not creating a fair fiscal framework, with exemptions and privileges surviving each reform programme while the easiest taxpayers carry the adjustment. It urges parliament to set tax policy itself, give tax adjudication genuine independence, pay refunds rather than book them as revenue, and remove privileges before raising rates on taxpayers already documented. The author closes by arguing that sovereignty is measured by a state's ability to fund public needs fairly from a sufficiently strong economy.