By Rana Muhammad Imran
Melbourn, Australia
When the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) asks citizens how they earn their money, demands proof of income and examines their financial trails, it is exercising an important responsibility of the state. Tax collection, documentation of the economy, prevention of tax evasion and scrutiny of unexplained wealth are necessary for any functioning country.
But there is another question that deserves the same seriousness:
Why are so many people unable to earn enough money to live with dignity in the first place?
This question rarely receives the attention it deserves.
A state cannot measure its economic success simply by counting how much revenue it collects or how many people it brings into the tax net. It must also examine the economic conditions under which ordinary citizens are trying to survive.
If a shopkeeper is struggling to pay rent, electricity bills and school fees, if a worker’s salary disappears before the end of the month, if a young graduate cannot find meaningful employment, and if a family is forced to borrow money simply to meet basic household expenses, then the government must ask itself a fundamental question: what went wrong with the economic system?
The state has a responsibility not only to ask citizens where their money came from, but also to understand why millions of citizens have so little money to begin with.
Tax enforcement cannot be the whole economic policy
There is nothing wrong with asking questions about unexplained wealth, undeclared income or suspicious financial transactions. In fact, such scrutiny is essential. Those who deliberately evade taxes or conceal wealth should be held accountable under the law.
But taxation cannot become the beginning and end of economic governance.
A government must also ask whether wages are adequate, whether employment opportunities are expanding, whether small businesses can survive rising costs, whether young people can build careers, and whether economic growth is actually improving the lives of ordinary citizens.
A country cannot build a healthy economy simply by demanding more documentation from people who are already struggling to survive.
The real measure of economic progress should be whether the ordinary citizen has greater purchasing power, better employment opportunities, access to quality education and healthcare, affordable housing and a realistic chance to improve his or her standard of living.
Why does poverty keep reproducing itself?
Perhaps the most uncomfortable question for policymakers is this:
Why does poverty continue from one generation to another?
A poor family may work hard for decades and still remain poor because income is consumed by food, rent, transport, education, healthcare and utility bills. Their children may grow up with limited educational opportunities and enter the same low-income labour market.
This creates a cycle in which poverty is not simply an individual problem. It becomes a structural problem.
When that happens, telling people to “work harder” is not enough. The state must examine the economic structures that determine who gets opportunities, who has access to capital, who receives quality education and who benefits most from economic growth.
And what about the concentration of wealth?
There is another uncomfortable contradiction in our economic debate.
Ordinary citizens are frequently told that the country is facing serious economic difficulties. Businesses complain about declining profits, investors complain about rising costs and industries demand relief.
Those concerns may be legitimate. Businesses need a stable economic environment to survive and invest.
But economic debate must also examine the other side of the equation.
If some businesses report declining profits while simultaneously expanding into new sectors, acquiring companies, increasing investments or building larger commercial empires, the question should not simply be whether their profits have fallen.
The question should also be:
Who owns the wealth, who controls economic opportunities, and how fairly are the benefits of economic activity distributed?
This is not an argument against successful businesses or wealthy individuals. Wealth creation is essential to a functioning economy. The issue is whether wealth creation is accompanied by broader opportunities for society or whether economic power becomes increasingly concentrated while the majority struggles with declining purchasing power.
The poor should not become the easiest target
There is a danger when the weakest sections of society become the easiest people to question.
A small trader, daily wage worker, low-income employee or struggling family may have little financial documentation simply because their economic lives are informal and precarious.
Before treating every undocumented transaction as evidence of wrongdoing, policymakers should understand the economic reality in which millions of people operate.
At the same time, the powerful and wealthy must not escape legitimate scrutiny. Tax enforcement should be fair, transparent and consistent.
The law should not be designed to frighten the poor while becoming negotiable for the powerful.
If the state wants citizens to trust the tax system, people must believe that the burden is distributed fairly.
The question Pakistan must confront
Pakistan needs a tax system that is effective, but it also needs an economic system that gives people something worth taxing.
If millions remain trapped in low incomes, insecure employment and rising living costs, simply expanding the tax net will not solve the deeper problem.
The real test of economic governance is whether a hardworking citizen can build a decent life without being pushed further into debt and poverty.
The FBR can ask where the money came from. The state must also answer why so many citizens have so little of it.
