Islamabad(Parliament Times): IMF delegation has come to Pakistan and everything is being taxed to meet the revenue target, which has broken the poor man’s back. To get the country out of this predicament, I have some suggestions for tax compliance with the terms of the IMF, if we try to achieve this goal with things that will affect the common man as little as possible. We are working on policies to protect our citizens from heart and related diseases and to raise awareness about the things that cause them and keep them out of reach of people. According to the study, tax is also considered as an excellent weapon to prevent these factors. WHO suggests that if a 10% tax is imposed on something, its consumption decreases by 8%. When talking about heart and related diseases, tobacco and sugary drinks are one of the main causes of them. And these are the things that are not the necessities of life. We buy diseases with money. If seen, more than four and a half hundred people leave this world every day from tobacco alone. About 5,000 are admitted to hospitals every day. 615 billion is being spent annually on diseases caused by tobacco. More than 2 billion are blown up in smoke every year on this unnecessary item. Similarly, billions of rupees worth of sugary drinks are consumed every year, which are not necessities of life, and we buy many diseases with money, including obesity, diabetes, heart diseases and many types of cancer, and only medicines for diabetes. But 2640 million US dollars are being spent every year.
Keeping all these things in mind, it is my polite request that instead of imposing more taxes on essential items like petrol, electricity, gas, flour, etc., the revenue should be met by increasing the tax on tobacco and sugary drinks, the prices of which in Pakistan are lower than those of other countries. There are very few in comparison. In the United Kingdom, the price of a pack of cigarettes is 17 pounds, which is 3,800 rupees in Pakistani rupees, while its price in Pakistan is less than 100 rupees. Similarly, the prices of sugary drinks in Pakistan are very low compared to other countries. Taxing them will not affect the common man and will generate revenue to meet the IMF conditions.
I have another request that for tobacco and sugary drinks, the proposal that has been given earlier by the Ministry of Health, which includes the Health Levy Bill, if it is implemented, 55 billion can be obtained from this bill alone. And if another pending proposal of the Ministry of Health is added to it, 105 billion can be collected from them. I request that along with passing the health levy bill on tobacco and sugary drinks, they should be taxed to make them more expensive, which will have many benefits, revenue will be filled, health burden will be reduced, diseases will be reduced. There will also be a reduction in the sufferings of the people, which will be a win-win situation for the country and the common man will not be affected.
But despite all these facts, the industry mafia misguides our policy makers with false data to achieve the results they want, just as the industry is still misleading the finance minister with unsubstantiated facts. . We request our rulers to take decisions keeping in mind national and public interest instead of individual interest
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