Please Do Not Pay Taxes

Please Do Not Pay Taxes. 

By Mir Mohammad Alikhan #MirMak

And do one more thing, do not complain about Pakistan not progressing either. It is so ironic that the moment you speak about income taxes, everybody starts to speak about indirect taxes. Without researching without knowing a thing about how countries progress and how other countries have their tax structures. We love to give examples of how great Sweden is, how amazing Japan is, how beautiful the hospitals in Denmark are, how great the schools in Germany are, but we never spend a second to understand how they got there. 

They reached that point by paying taxes. Income and indirect. 

Sweden has 61.85% tax rate. Japan has 55.95% tax rate. Denmark has 55.80% tax rate. A tiny country like Chad has 60% tax rate. Ivory Coast has 60%, Austria has 55% tax rate, Finland has 51.60% tax rate, Israel has 50.1% tax rate, United Kingdom has 45% tax rate, United States has an upward of 40% tax rate at the highest level, India has 35.8% tax rate….

And Pakistan, only 20%. 

Still we complaint. We defy the state. We go on strikes, we close down our stores, and we challenge the writ of the government. We do everything to defy the implementation of the law. 

According to the KPMG Global Economy Research findings, all of the countries that I mentioned above also have a very high Indirect Tax in addition to the income tax. 

Hungary has 27% indirect tax in addition to the income tax. Denmark 25%. Finland 24%. Sweden 25%. Italy 22%. France 20%. United Kingdom 20%. India 18%

And Pakistan 17%. 

We have nothing but demands from our governments and nothing but defiance of our duties when it comes to backing up the demands. Pakistan has a loan payment every year of about Rs 3 Trillion rupees. Half of our budget. If we do not bring this economy into documentation, I can guarantee you that within the next 10 year, with inflation and dollar fluctuation plus additional loans and a slow economy, we will be forced to default on our loans. 

And once a country defaults, the entire system collapses, your bank transfers are not honored. Your currency can devalue up to 500% or more. Your trade finishes because no bank accepts your Letters of Credit. Your imports finish. Your exports become nonexistent without bank LCs. And the ones who are trying to save a few thousand rupees a month as shop owners in taxes, end up losing millions in business. 

A perfect example of penny wise and pound foolish. 

So next time when you raise your concern and make excuses that “I pay indirect taxes so I will not pay income taxes.” Think again. The whole world pays indirect taxes and income taxes. 

So if you want Pakistan to fail. Your children to be homeless. Your home to become worthless. Your businesses to go bankrupt. Your currency to devalue 500%. 

PLEASE DO NOT PAY TAXES.

Mir MAK