6 mn rich identified for tax imposition: Hafeez Shaikh

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LAHORE: Federal Minister for Finance Dr. Hafeez Shaikh Sunday said that 6 million rich people have been identified for imposition of tax, Geo News reported.

Addressing a pre-budget seminar held here under the auspices of an English daily, the Finance Minister said the Federal Government was not competent to impose tax on agriculture; only provinces can collect agriculture tax. “Tax on agriculture is already in place in all the four provinces,” he added.

He said failure to keep a same team of economic experts and political changes were responsible for having an adverse impact on the economic progress of the country.

Former finance ministers, Shaukat Tarin, Sartaj Aziz, Humayun Akhtar and Jehangir Tarin endorsed the idea of bringing untaxed sectors under the tax net.

They said the economy required revolutionary surgery. Non-development expenses be curtailed and all the difficult decisions be taken to safeguard the country’s sovereignty.