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Tax Reform Era Role of Professionals Younus Rizwani Sheikh
Tax Reform Era Role of Professionals Younus Rizwani Sheikh
Role of Professionals
BY
Younus Rizwani Sheikh
President APTBA
at
Asia Pacific Tax Conference 2006
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the organizers of
the seminar for inviting me to express my views on the Tax
Reforms Era – Role of professionals. From the time Income
Tax Act, 1922 was promulgated in undivided India,
Professionals have always played a major role in the
implementation of the tax laws. When Pakistan achieved
independence in 1947 the tax machinery of Pakistan was in
its teething state and was looking to eminent tax practitioners
who had practicing tax before pre-partition days for
assistance in the collection of the taxes by the new
Government. At his juncture, these tax practitioners
motivated the business community to pay their due share of
taxes so that a strong foundation can be laid. The Income
Tax Bar Association, Karachi was established in 1956 by a
group of eminent tax professionals a numbers of whom like
Mr. Iqbal Naeem Pasha, Mr. Masood Ahmed Abbasi, Mr. H.
Shaban are still present in our midst and are playing their
role in the tax development in Pakistan.
From the time ITBAK was formed the bar took itself the task
of apprising the government in power with the needs and
the difficulties being faced by the tax payers and the
members of the Bar, and every year proposals were sent to
the government for amendments in the I.T.Act /ordinance
and critical evaluation was made and sent to the
Government authority in respect of the amendments to be
made in the I.T statutes.
The role of professionals was not only appreciated in
Pakistan but also in India where huge crowds used to
gather to listen to the comments of that great tax
practitioner Pakiwala’s comment on provisions of the
Finance Acts. In both these countries the governments had
also recognized the potential of the tax professionals and
were inducting them in various committees & task forces
formed to initiate and evaluate various tax reforms.
In Pakistan, stalwarts like Mr. Iqbal Naeem Pasha, Mr.
Rehan Hassan Naqvi, Mr. E.U.Khawaja, Mr. Siraj-ul-Haq
Memon, (Late) Mr. Z.H.Jafri were inducted into various
committees and now no committee formed by the
government on tax legislation is considered to be
complete unless it includes my fellow panelist Syed
Shabbar Zaidi. All these professionals had voluntarily
and without any honorarium devoted considerable time
and input for the effective completion of the assignments
entrusted to these committees.