Make Corporations Pay their Share, End Inequalities in Global Tax Rules!
Islamabad : Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee and Tax payers Association, Pakistan organized a consultation meeting National press club as part of the Asia Days of Action for Tax Justice, an Asia-wide coordinated set of actions to call for tax justice in the mining and other extractives industries in the Pakistan, Asia, and across the world.
In a world marked by escalating crises, worsening inequalities, austerity, and failures of fiscal and tax systems, this year Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee is in solidarity with the Asian People’s Movement on Debt and Development calling the Asian Days of Action for Tax Justice is a resounding call to address the pressing global challenges that have disproportionately impacted the people of the Global South, particularly in Pakistan. There is a critical need to prioritize the needs and rights of people and the planet and the urgency of reforming our national and global tax systems.
Pakistan is losing 93.3 million US dollars in the form of tax abuse by corporations. Offshore wealth owned by citizens of the country is 3.4 USD billion and it is 1.1% of GDP. Tax revenue loss in the form the Offshore wealth is 33.6 USD million. (Report on State of Tax Justice 2023 by Tax Justice Network)
There have been a total of 9 tax amnesty schemes by the different governments since 1959. The capitalist class was provided an opportunity that their tax-stolen amount could be declared as legal amount by paying a meager 3 to 4 percent tax on this black money. A staggering over 821 billion Rupees of black money were declared legal during these schemes. Apart from tax amnesty schemes, The capitalist class is normally given state subsidies and concessions by the state. In a UNDP report 2021, It was revealed that Pakistani Elite privilege consumes US$ 17.4 billion. This was roughly almost 6 percent of Pakistan’s economy.
Around 300 companies excavating mineral resources in Sindh have reportedly failed to pay sales tax to the Centre, even though Rs300 billion in mineral resources have been mined from three districts of the province in the last four years.
Elite capture’ is the root of all socioeconomic ills as tax evasion worth billions of rupees on account of illegal trade done by a handful elite must be stopped to put the country on path to development. Tobacco companies are involved in the evasion of taxes worth Rs240 billion tax annually. 50 billion and 56 billion Rupees in taxes were being stolen in the automobile industry and auto lubricant industry, respectively. There was tax theft worth Rs2,880 billion in the retail sector alone, while tax evasion to the tune of Rs30 billion is being done by the steel and Rs222 billion yarn sector.
We aim to highlight the fundamental role of progressive taxation, wealth redistribution, and reforms in the global tax system as essential tools in tackling the multifaceted crises we face. We will expose the role that regressive tax policies, rampant tax abuses by corporations and the elite, and a broken international tax system play in the accumulation and concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, and in the historical and continuing transfer of wealth from the Global South to the North.
We call on governments and the international community to advance progressive tax reforms and end global tax rules and rulemaking inequalities. We reiterate our call to reject the OECD-G20 “Tax Deal of the Rich,” and to pursue decisive steps to realize a UN Tax Convention and UN Tax Body where all countries negotiate on equal footing. These are necessary to ensure that all nations have a voice in international tax reform efforts and end inequalities in global tax rules and rulemaking. These are crucial steps toward fixing our global tax system and plugging the leaks of corporate tax abuses and other types of illicit financial flows that drain our economies and deprive people across the world of essential rights and services.
In advancing our just demands for progressive taxation and reforms of the global tax system during the Asia Days of Action for Tax Justice, we highlight the solidarity of the tax justice movement in Asia as a beacon of hope in the pursuit of a just and equitable world where public resources serve the common good.
Seeks to raise awareness of the multiple crises and highlight the role tax systems play in exacerbating the multiple crises and the need to transform them. Advocate for reforms in national and global systems to end elite and gender biases and end inequalities in global tax rules. We demand the implementation of the Super tax in Pakistan and reforms in national tax systems to end biases and end inequalities in the tax rules.