tax avoidance

Nwachukwu (2006a) points out that no matter how deep rooted a country's resource base is, if institutions, individuals or groups that practice evasion and avoidance of taxes indulge in it, the purpose of taxation would be defeated.

According to senior officials, Mauritius and Singapore with their small economies cannot be the sources of such huge investments and it is apparent that the funds are routed through these jurisdictions for avoidance of taxes and/ or for concealing identities of the ultimate investors from revenue authorities.

I cannot, however, see anything unreasonable in arranging one's affairs through tax avoidance to pay as little as one has to - even the great Liberal economist John Maynard Keynes once said that, "The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that carries any reward."

The recent report by the Public Accounts Committee paints an all too familiar picture where big business is able to engage in systematic avoidance of taxes which runs into billions.

Issues of corruption graft and kickbacks pale into insignificance compared to the avoidance of taxes by the Pakistani rich.