Budget proposals over taxation regime in unison?

In the weeks preceding the announcement of the Federal Budget 2012-13, recommendations and proposals from various chambers of commerce and industry, trade associations and other interest groups are being put forth in the hopes that policymakers will incorporate these in their fiscal plans going forward.
Among the prominent proposals publicized so far is a diverse mix of private sector stakeholders including the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) and the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and others.
However, all segments of the private sector appear to be in complete agreement that the government must increase its dependence on direct taxes and move away from indirect taxes, while broadening the tax net to ensure that the corporate sector which is already bearing the brunt of direct taxes is not burdened further.
It is not like these demands have not been made before; but calls for a redress of the presumptive tax regime are getting louder. In its proposals, ICAP has stated that, "Amnesties, presumptive taxation, fixed tax and minimum tax regimes have proven to be counter-productive for documentation of economy".
One of ICAPs recommendations entails "prescribing a maximum immunity threshold to discourage the trend of whitening of untaxed income under section 111".
The OICCI has suggested that a uniform income tax rate of 30 percent should be applied on businesses irrespective of their legal status. ICAP has gone a step further to call for a simultaneous reduction in income tax rates for corporations and an increase in the same for individuals and associations of persons.
President LCCI Irfan Qaiser Shaikh has also called on the government to bring the agriculture and services sectors into the tax net by enforcing income tax on businesses such as private schools, beauty salons, bakeries, travel agents and wedding lawns.
Another proposal that has emerged among myriad recommendations is that government should make it mandatory to provide NTN/CNIC numbers for specified transactions, such as air travel and hotel reservations, which must then be reported to FBR. Such measures are expected to help reign in tax evaders.
Some of the proposals forwarded appear overzealous. Take for instance OICCIs call for making public the list of 700,000 affluent individuals prepared by FBR to catch tax evaders in 2011. Although such a move may build social pressure on such individuals, it may also attract the attention of extortionists and kidnappers who appear to enjoy relative immunity in major business districts.
However, the majority of proposals sent to the countrys economic managers appear practical, albeit challenging to implement. By continuing with its agenda of rationalizing fuel prices and energy tariffs the government has so far avoided populist pressures that are bound to surge in the run up to the general elections.
Private sector representatives also realise that the upcoming budget may be the last crack in their window of opportunity to pummel through with some taxation reforms. It is now up to them to up the ante and rally support to ensure that these recommendations do not once again get sidelined in favour of an election-year budget loaded with populist measures that come at the expense of the countrys financial stability.