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Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Tax targets missed again
EDITORIAL: As had long been anticipated, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) missed its tax collection goal for FY2024-25, collecting Rs11.7 trillion in revenue against an original target of Rs12.9 trillion. The FBR's faltering performance during the year prompted two downward revisions of this target — first to Rs12.3 trillion, then to Rs11.9 trillion. In the end, the FBR missed the initial projection by over Rs1 trillion, and even the final, softened figure by Rs163 billion. These serial downward revisions and repeated misses signal more than just miscalculations by the tax bureaucracy and economic managers, although those are also troubling in their own right. More fundamentally, they expose a systemic failure to reform the chronic failings that lie at the heart of the country's tax architecture. The revenue targets were missed despite the imposition of exorbitant tax rates on salaried individuals and the corporate sector, the taxing of almost all essential consumable items, and the FBR upgrading its digital infrastructure, launching anti-smuggling operations and introducing additional tax measures worth a massive Rs1.3 trillion during the course of the year. In the end, its lacklustre performance also meant missing the IMF-set tax-to-GDP target of 10.6 percent. Even so, it's important to acknowledge that despite missing its collection goal, the FBR still generated revenue 26 percent higher than the previous year's, suggesting that part of the problem lay in setting an overly ambitious target. Annual tax objectives rely on making certain basic assumptions about key economic indicators, including the GDP growth rate, interest rates, inflation and anticipated policy outcomes, including those tied to the IMF programme. When these assumptions are misjudged, the resulting revenue expectations inevitably become skewed. In this case, too, FBR officials have cited overly optimistic projections of import volumes, inflationary pressures and high economic growth — all of which failed to materialise — as key reasons behind the shortfall. However, beyond the miscalculation of targets and economic indicators lie foundational shortcomings in the country's fiscal framework, most crucially, a chronically narrow tax base. The system continues to disproportionately burden the salaried class and the corporate sector — which together contributed a significant Rs5.8 trillion to the national coffers in FY2024-25 — as well as low- to middle-income groups. Meanwhile, large and often more profitable sectors — retail, agriculture and real estate, among others — remain either under-taxed or entirely outside the net. Genuine political will and the policy acumen required to address this imbalance meaningfully remain woefully lacking. The over-reliance on ever-rising tax rates and aggressive taxation measures by the FBR have meant that over time Pakistan has begun to mirror high-tax Scandinavian economies in terms of rates, but without offering the public comparable public services, social protections or institutional accountability that typically justifies such taxation burdens. The reforms needed to address the narrow tax base — such as bringing the vast retail and wholesale sectors into the net — remain largely unimplemented. Meaningful agricultural taxation, now being introduced not out of political will but under pressure from the IMF, is another case in point. There is only so much that can be extracted from the same segments of the population; beyond a certain threshold, higher tax rates simply incentivise evasion rather than improving compliance. When last year's collection target was set, the then FBR chairman, Amjad Zubair Tiwana, had cautioned that revenue was unlikely to exceed Rs11.8 trillion, the one forecast that proved accurate. This suggests that there is awareness at the top of the system's limitations, yet consequential reforms remain absent. Instead, the focus remains on introducing additional, often aggressive tax measures and expanding the FBR's coercive powers to squeeze more from the same outstretched sources. Until the political will, administrative capacity, effective policymaking and institutional accountability to broaden the tax base materialise, these cycles of overreach and underperformance will persist. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Time of India
05-06-2025
- Time of India
Three recovery agents held for aiding Hagawanes in cheating case
Pune: The Mahalunge MIDC police on Thursday arrested three men for illegally confiscating an earthmoving machine and handing it over to the Hagawane family members about a month ago. Deputy commissioner of police Shivaji Pawar said, "We have arrested Yogesh Raskar (25), Vaibhav Pingale (27) — both of Talegaon Dhamdhere, and Ganesh Potale (25) of Mohitewadi for aiding Lata Hagawane and her son Shashank in a cheating case registered with the police on May 29." Pawar said, "The trio are recovery agents with a bank and had taken away the machine. They gave it to the Hagawanes, despite the bank stating there was no need to seize the machine." With the fresh arrests, the number of suspects in the cheating case has reached five, including Lata and Sushant. Earlier, the Hagawanes were arrested in the dowry harassment case of Vaishavi, who allegedly committed suicide at her residence in Bhukum last month. Pawar said, "The trio claimed that the bank had ordered that the earthmover, which was taken on loan from the bank by the complainant in the case, be seized. Instead of giving the machine to the bank, the trio gave it to the Hagawanes." The victim (33) of Khed lodged a complaint stating that Lata owned the machine and the complainant had agreed to purchase it from her. He was paying a monthly instalment of Rs50,000 to Shashank to repay the loan. Pawar said, "However, instead of paying the instalments, Shashank conspired with recovery agents and illegally took back the machine from the victim and kept it in his possession." Police said when the victim approached Shashank and demanded back either the machine or the money, Shashank threatened him with a licenced pistol. The victim suffered a financial loss of Rs11.7 lakh because of all this. Pune: The Mahalunge MIDC police on Thursday arrested three men for illegally confiscating an earthmoving machine and handing it over to the Hagawane family members about a month ago. Deputy commissioner of police Shivaji Pawar said, "We have arrested Yogesh Raskar (25), Vaibhav Pingale (27) — both of Talegaon Dhamdhere, and Ganesh Potale (25) of Mohitewadi for aiding Lata Hagawane and her son Shashank in a cheating case registered with the police on May 29." Pawar said, "The trio are recovery agents with a bank and had taken away the machine. They gave it to the Hagawanes, despite the bank stating there was no need to seize the machine." With the fresh arrests, the number of suspects in the cheating case has reached five, including Lata and Sushant. Earlier, the Hagawanes were arrested in the dowry harassment case of Vaishavi, who allegedly committed suicide at her residence in Bhukum last month. Pawar said, "The trio claimed that the bank had ordered that the earthmover, which was taken on loan from the bank by the complainant in the case, be seized. Instead of giving the machine to the bank, the trio gave it to the Hagawanes." The victim (33) of Khed lodged a complaint stating that Lata owned the machine and the complainant had agreed to purchase it from her. He was paying a monthly instalment of Rs50,000 to Shashank to repay the loan. Pawar said, "However, instead of paying the instalments, Shashank conspired with recovery agents and illegally took back the machine from the victim and kept it in his possession." Police said when the victim approached Shashank and demanded back either the machine or the money, Shashank threatened him with a licenced pistol. The victim suffered a financial loss of Rs11.7 lakh because of all this.
Time of India
04-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Hagawanes in magisterial custody remand till June 16
1 2 Pune: The court of judicial magistrate first class Amol Shinde on Tuesday extended the custodial remand till June 7 of Nilesh Chavan, business associate of Shashank Hagawane and co-accused in the dowry death case of Vaishnavi Hagawane. The court sent Vaishnavi's father-in-law Rajendra Hagawane and brother-in-law to magisterial custody remand till June 16. They were later sent to the Yerawada Central Jail. Bavdhan police's senior inspector Anil Vibhute produced Chavan and the Hagawanes before the court following the end of their initial custodial remand. Vibhute filed a remand report to extend Chavan's custodial remand by five days and sought magisterial custody for Hagawanes. Assistant public prosecutor Nitin Adagale told the court that the custodial interrogation of Chavan was essential because the police recovered a firearm licence, revolver and two cellphones of Vaishnavi's mother-in-law Lata and Shashank's sister Karishma from him. Adagale argued that investigations revealed Chavan's involvement in a criminal conspiracy along with the other co-accused and sought time to find out if he mistreated Vaishnavi's nine-month-old boy and why had he forcibly taken possession of the child. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Descubra ofertas de voos imperdíveis Voos | Anúncios de Pesquisa Saiba Mais Undo The prosecution said Chavan was communicating with the other co-accused over the phone and sought time to examine their call records and collect details of financial transactions done by them, if any, for the purpose of collecting evidence. The prosecutor relied on the statement of witnesses stating that Chavan abetted the victim's suicide in the case and prayed that sufficient time be given to the police for detailed investigations. Defence lawyer Swanand Govindwar opposed the prosecution's plea on the grounds that the court had given enough time for Chavan's questioning and his custodial interrogation was not essential. The court upheld the prosecution's plea on the grounds that there was sufficient progress in the investigations. Vaishnavi's husband, mother-in-law arrested in cheating case MIDC Mhalunge police on Tuesday secured the custody of Vaishnavi Hagawane's husband Shashank and mother-in-law Lata from the Yerawada Central Jail and arrested them for duping a farmer to the tune of Rs11.7 lakh in a case relating to an excavation machine transaction since March 20, 2022. Khed court judicial magistrate first class JB Mhaske sent the duo to police custody remand for three days. Farmer Prashant Yelwande (33), a resident of Nighoje village in Khed, registered a complaint with the police on May 29 stating that he had purchased an excavation machine in Lata's name for Rs11.7 lakh through a recovery agent and was paying EMI of Rs 50,000 per month to Shashank. However, instead of depositing the money in the bank, Shashank colluded with the agent and got the machine seized from Yelwande's possession and duped him. Later, Shashank refused to return the machine or repay the EMI paid by Yelwande and allegedly threatened him with a gun.
Time of India
30-05-2025
- Time of India
One more case against Shashank, mom
Pune: A case of cheating, criminal breach of trust and threatening was registered by Pimpri Chinchwad police on Thursday night against Vaishnavi Hagawane's husband Shashank and his mother, Lata. They face charges of duping a land developer from Nighoje in Khed taluka of Rs11.7 lakh. A case was registered under sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Indian Arms Act. Pimpri Chinchwad police's deputy commissioner (zone II) Shivaji Pawar told TOI that in March 2022, the complainant had purchased an earth-moving machine from the Hagawanes. The deal was finalised for Rs24 lakh. The complainant paid Rs5 lakh to Shashank and his mother, and took the equipment. "Shashank had taken a loan from a private bank to purchase the earth-moving machine and Rs19 lakh was still due. The complainant agreed to give Rs50,000 per month to the Hagawanes and they would pay it to the bank. The complainant transferred Rs6.7 lakh to Lata's account," Pawar said. The Hagawanes, however, did not repay the loan, following which the bank took away the machine in Aug 2024. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like CFD: Invertir $100 con IA podría devolverte un segundo salario Digital Group Prueba ahora Undo "Shashank recovered the earth-moving machine from the bank later, but did not return it to the complainant," he said. Since then, the complainant was pursuing Shashank and his mother and demanding that either they return his money or the machine. But there was no response. "When he went to meet Shashank, the latter threatened him with a licenced pistol," Pawar said, adding that the complainant then filed an application with the Mahalunge MIDC police. "We have registered a case and investigations are on," he said. Meanwhile, Pune city police on Thursday night registered two separate offences with the Warje and Kothrud police stations against Shashank and his brother, Sushil, for fraudulent representation of addresses by deceptive means to obtain firearm licences in 2022. DCP (zone III) Sambhaji Kadam said, "We registered the two cases after realising they had submitted misleading addresses which amounts to fraudulent misrepresentation."
Express Tribune
07-03-2025
- Health
- Express Tribune
Govt hospital suffers neglect
The performance of provincial health department can be gauged from the fact that a lithotripsy machine, purchased 15 years ago for the hospital, became unusable without ever being used. The machine is used to break kidney stones through radiation. The health department officials bought the machine but never appointed trained staff to operate it, rendering it useless, officials said. According to details, Sindh Government Liaquatabad Hospital located in the Central District, which serves a population of 4.5 million, is the only hospital designated as a trauma center for treating the public and victims of traffic accidents. However, due to the negligence of senior health department officials, the hospital could not be developed into a trauma center. As per The Express Tribune reports, the hospital was established to serve residents of areas such as Teen Hatti, Al-Asif Square, Nazimabad, and Hayderi. Sindh government allocates only Rs47.5 million annually for the hospital, which caters to a population of 4.5 million in Central District. The hospital has only 200 beds allocated for patients. In the hospital's outpatient department (OPD), between 3,500 to 4,000 patients report daily. Upon reviewing the budget allocated for medicines for admitted patients, medical tests, and medicines and other facilities provided to OPD patients, it was revealed that the Sindh government allocates only Rs0.41 per patient every three months, based on the budget provided to the hospital. If the hospital's budget is divided among the population of District Central, it becomes almost negligible. However, Sindh government gives the impression that provincial government is providing millions of rupees for the hospital, while the reality is quite the opposite. The budget for Sindh Government Liaquatabad Hospital and other hospitals is disbursed in quarterly installments. These hospitals are funded through public tax revenues, yet the Sindh government presents it as though the provincial government is generously providing this substantial amount According to a report by Express Tribune, Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad is provided with Rs11.7 million every three months for medicines and public health care, while the population of District Central is 4.5 million. The hospital's emergency department consists of only 8 beds, while 1500 patients are reported daily in the emergency department. Some departments of hospital do not have consultants and professors appointed. In 2009, a decision was made to establish a trauma center in the hospital, but it has not been implemented to date. A separate building was constructed to established a trauma center, but instead of a trauma center, a nursing school was established on one floor, a paramedical school and midwifery school on another floor, and the hospital administration offices were set up, but the trauma center could not be established. The hospital has a cardiac unit, dental unit, burns center, orthopedic unit, and other units, but due to the lack of trained staff, patients suffering from these diseases are referred to Civil or Jinnah Hospital. The hospital also lacks medico-legal department and post-mortem facilities. In this regard, The Express Tribune contacted the hospital's Medical Superintendent, Dr. Atiq Qureshi, who said that 100,000 patients visit various OPDs in the hospital every month. The hospital has complete facilities for the treatment of gynecological and other diseases. The hospital's budget is insufficient considering the number of patients coming to the hospital. He said that recently, two operation theaters of the hospital, which has been closed for the past 5 years, have been fully activated. He said that a lithotripsy machine was purchased 15 years ago, but the staff to operate the machine has not been appointed yet, and the machine has become faulty. However, gallbladder surgery has been started using a laparoscopy machine in the hospital. He said that the hospital is facing a shortage of doctors and other staff.
