today we just realised at our office that our salary gets taxed each and every month when its sent to the bank. we, poor middle income salaried people the way our system is set up the only class in pakistan that will surely get their income taxed is the salaried class because their salaries actually go thru banks.
we all know of cases where landowners and mill owners have been defaulting on their taxes for long long times, but for us, we’re just taxed automatically.
i feel like the middle class salary making person is carrying the weight of the pakistani economy.
as my colleague was saying, we love our country but not THAT much!!! hamein to loot lya hamein to loot kya
when exactly are our tax collection machineries going to be oiled and repaired and put back to use? :halo:
consider this: the dude who owns a samosa stall outside our office sells one samosa for Rs 2.50, he doesn't pay rent coz his rehri is encroaching illegally on govt property. he himself said that he sells almost 300 samosas everyday. thats almost lets say
2.5 x 300 x 25 = 18750
[he remains closed on sunday and lets just throw in one more holiday]
thats how much he's making per month. substract the costs and consider his profit.
he doesn't pay taxes does he?
some people who're masters degree holders make less than him and they have to pay taxes.
and the street beggars prolly make even more than him...i'm not kidding but some beggars these days carry mobile foons...
something needs to be done about this. the educated middle class is the one that's really feeling the blade of the economic knife.
Government employees tu yeh point kaheen saal se raise kar rahey hain, since they HAVE to pay tax, as woh automatically cut jaata hai, while the business men and private employees used to get away with it.
oh trust me Spock pvt employees are not getting away with it anymore
khayr hae, doesnt bother me much to be honest, but still, its so inefficient of our financial ministry to just let landowners and businesspeople get away scot free, i mean they should be paying their taxes.
Irem, are you up set more on the taxes you pay or the taxes others don't pay?
It's good to know that people in Pakistan are paying taxes, at least some of them. If you think is unfair, try to find good ways to voice your concerns!! Allah karay that in future everyone in Pakistan pays their fair share of taxes.
As the service sector is probably going to grow more in the near future, especially if Pakistan picks up on the out sourcing wave, the tax revenues are bound to go up. Now, you need to make sure you encourage some sane people to run of political offices.
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*Originally posted by ahmadjee: *
Irem, are you up set more on the taxes you pay or the taxes others don't pay?
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I'm not upset actually, but yeah we at our office came to the general conclusion that the government is making an ullu out of us for making us pay taxes when the rich people aren't paying. so referring to your question, lets say we were upset at the former but only because of the latter.
Actually, you will see that in all the countries around the world paying taxes is a problem for people. There are number of scandals in US of corporates that find loop holes in the tax system & don't pay their fair share. That's why Faisal bhai makes so much money :D It’s a little different in Pakistan where people find loop holes in officials & get away with it.
I was partly self employed last year & trust me; when I signed the check to IRS, something just didn't feel right. But you get over it eventually.
how do u become mus-tash from tax ds? mujhay bhee batao
p.s. zaada khush na ho apni pehli salary bank mein aanay do mujhay khud aaj pata chala hae k meri salary se tax bhee kaTT rha tha aur job kerte hoay 6 months ho chukay hayn
^
Faisal bhai actually till now they haven’t deducted any taxes from our salaries coz its only now that our new born company actually established accounts with a bank BUT they are going to do adjustments in the future salaries or some complicated accounting procedure to compensate for this and we will be paying taxes from the beginning.
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*Originally posted by irem: *
nah I don't think any of our colleagues are making big big bucks, ours is a smallish company :)
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Hmmm... my recollection is rustic cz I am not familiar with the latest tax laws in Pakistan, but a few years ago, the highest tax bracket started at Rs 300,000 per year. That translates to about Rs 25,000 per month. Now tell me if you guys are not in the highest tax bracket? :)
I am not asking to tell us your salary, I am just saying that I am pretty sure some people in your office are in the highest tax bracket so its interesting to note that the Company did not deduct any tax for the employees while they didn't had a bank account. If I recall correctly employers who do not deduct tax and deposit it within certain days are liable for pretty significant penalties. :)
i c...well, they definitely are not the types to default on taxes. our company btw only got registered recently in pakistan, we were only a couple ppl till a few months aho. we were doing private offshore development work before. anyways, whatever the case is, im sure they prolly have it covered :)
hi Irem!
its actually standard procedure in most organizations in pak and maybe elsewhere aswell to deduct the tax amount from the total income each month, its kind of good actually the poor employees are given the poison slightly spread over 12 months and dont get a blow on the head at the end opf the year. But, i think in your case, your company is making a mistake not putting up a fight against taxation on salaries paid during the time the company didnt have proper financial systems. if you guys want to revolt, you can look at it this way too; the company may be facing penalties for noncompliance etc with the rules set up by the govt dpts and is shifting the burden on you…? but that seems unlikely to me, however i do suggest your company to hire a ‘good’ tax consultant, he can save you all big buckks! not necessarily through illegal means.
cause you know yaar! the big fish have the big money, and they also have the biggest, smartest, richest and most powerful tax consultants who have big ways to avoid, save or even evade taxes. so in the end, as we all know, the bechaaara middleclass gguy gets all the burden cause he cant fight the system alone, nor becoma a badmaash alone :D, and so ends up paying a lot of money that perhaps he doesnt have to in the first place, and the govt too knows that the big guys pay nothing so their real source is the poor man!
and the exemptions for land owners and corporate farmers! well what ccan be said, thats another gift the feudal culture has placed on our heads. the rich get richer and the poor…
Faisal,
your recollections seem from ages ago..i think according to the budget updates from few days ago Rs. 100,000 per year income is totally exempted from income tax now. so thats the lowest. the highest would be sky rocketing now!
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*Originally posted by irem: *
and the street beggars prolly make even more than him...i'm not kidding but some beggars these days carry mobile foons...
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Irem,
I know You wont believe this, but its true, its sometime in the early 90's, and I am hoping some of my Indian Compatratiots can back me up on this.
There is a Cinema House in Bombay, its called Palace (Its located at Byculla).
One fine day they found a Beggar's Corpse outside the theatre, and in his bedding they found more than 125,000.00 Indian Rupees, at todays rate it would be atleast Half a Million Rupees.
the way our system is set up the only class in pakistan that will surely get their income taxed is the salaried class because their salaries actually go thru banks.
hamein to loot lya hamein to loot kya 
mujhay khud aaj pata chala hae k meri salary se tax bhee kaTT rha tha aur job kerte hoay 6 months ho chukay hayn 
BUT they are going to do adjustments in the future salaries or some complicated accounting procedure to compensate for this and we will be paying taxes from the beginning.
