Headline Sep 14, 2014/ ''' HELLO ! : MR TAXATION - MRS WELFARE- MASTER -WORK '''

''' HELLO ! : MR TAXATION - 

MRS WELFARE- MASTER -WORK '''

IN PAKISTAN  -the legislatures miserably failed to generate great workable ideas. Simply and squarely this is the main reason.

Thus,  and therefore,  the taxation structure has been left entirely at the mercy of bureaucrats still living in the colonial age.

With the present dispensation, the prospects of improvement in the  tax-to-GDP ratio and economic development are but only distant dreams.

'''' The scenario is increasingly offending the fundamental rights of citizens and the basic principles enshrined in the constitution '''. 

For instance, the rate of sales tax at import and manufacturing stage may be determined according to estimated value-addition   -say 6%.

The wholesaler may pay a further  2% , and the retailer may add a  1% . Thus the end consumer will have to pay   9%, in all.  The reduction in the rate will bring down inflation and bring down the cost of production. 

Both the steps will surely augment the savings of common people, providing them improved opportunities: 

For better  food, health and education. Relief will be available across the board without discrimination,  while the deeply flawed  pick-and-choose social sector programmes like the:

'' Benazir Income Support Programme ''  will be replaced  by universal fiscal relief for every citizen. This will help avoid the cost of tax collection and wastage in a politicised system of distribution to selected persons and families.

Successive governments have been adopting ambivalent policies on the documentation of the economy. While enforcement of  VAT was supported for the expected improvement in documentation, the presumptive taxation-

Of income tax did away with documentation altogether.

Presumptive taxation according to the design adopted in Pakistan, has practically transformed the income tax into  the sales tax, and it has further fuelled economic disparities.

Presently, indirect taxation is the name of the game while direct taxation is negligible. Resultantly, the rich potential of taxation remains untapped while the overtaxed sections of society are over-squeezed.

And now to welfare and work in the most advance economy in the world

If the main aim of welfare is to help people pick themselves up and get back into work, different states have wildly different success rates, The proportion of  TANF claimants engaged in  ''work activities''  ranges from  17%  in Missouri  to  88% in Idaho.

This is the official measure, but not an adequate one, since so many welfare recipients are not enrolled in TANF.   In summer,  2013, the Department of Health and Human Services,  which oversees TANF, allowed states:

To change or waive the programme's work requirements, so long as they come up with an alternative plan to encourage work

But there is little talk of simplifying America's welfare system.

Britain is trying to fuse multiple benefits into one and place a cap on the total that any individual may receive.

Germany has brought its jobless rate down impressively, partly by creating one stop shops were the unemployed both claim benefits and are shown how to find work or acquire new skills.

Yet America remains stuck with a system so complex that even its fans struggle to measure how well it works.

A simpler system that tried to encourage work at every step would fit with the grain of American society. Americans who find job often stop claiming benefits to which they are entitled. 

This maybe because the system forces them to re-apply for such benefits, which can be hassle.

But it could very well be that they take pride in supporting themselves.

Mirta Rodriguez certainly does. Four years ago she signed up for benefits in Boston so that she could support her family while looking for work. A single mother of three, she eventually received cash assistance, food stamps and Medicaid.

Welfare helped her survive while studying   -she now has a degree and a job as a manager in the neighbourhood centre.

''I had clear goals,'' she says. ''I wasn't raised to sit at home expecting a check to come in the mail.''

So, to sum up, one fair inference is that the people in the developing world remain, if anything, ''An Ecstatic Pessimists.''

  

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW!  -the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

''' The Organisation  At Your Side  '''

Good Night and God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless