Open AccessShifting of Indirect Taxes: A Further Study
Author(s) -
Bilquees F. Naqvi
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
pakistan development review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.154
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 0030-9729
DOI - 10.30541/v14i2pp.174-184
Subject(s) - excise , revenue , government revenue , indirect tax , tax revenue , tax deferral , ad valorem tax , economics , government (linguistics) , value added tax , direct tax , tax reform , revenue center , business , consumption (sociology) , public economics , economic policy , monetary economics , state income tax , finance , gross income , macroeconomics , social science , linguistics , philosophy , sociology
Indirect taxes—customs duties, sales tax, excise duty andexport duty -are an important source of revenue to the Government ofPakistan. These taxes may be changed to bring about changes inproduction structure and consumption patterns. However, in the case ofPakistan, changes in sales tax and excise duty in particular seem tohave been brought about mainly for revenue purposes. In¬direct taxesaccounted for 64 percent of the total revenue receipts of the federalGovernment of Pakistan in the year 1972-73 [ 4 ]. The contribution ofindirect taxes to the revenue receipts of the federal government showssome fluctuations, but over all, the share cf indirect taxes does notshow any definite trend. Whereas the share of indirect taxes in totalrevenue receipts is almost constant, there have been important changesin the revenue receipts from different indirect taxes, e.g. sales tax,excise tax and import duties. In the early fifties, excise and salestaxes accounted for 15 percent of the revenue receipts, but theycontributed as much as 27 percent of the revenue in the seventies. Thisshows that sales and excise taxes are emerging as important sources ofrevenue to the federal Government of Pakistan. In view of the growingimportance of indirect taxes in Pakistan it will be instructive todetermine who will bear the burden of taxes. Shifting or non-shifting ofa tax has an important bearing on the economy.