Taxing solutions

Australian School of Business PhD student Najeeb Memon hopes his award-winning research will change the way income is taxed in his home country of Pakistan and other developing nations, helping to reduce tax evasion and corruption.

Najeeb was awarded the best PhD research paper at the 21st Australasian Tax Teachers Association Conference. He is currently on secondment from his role as a senior taxation official in Pakistan.

His research focuses on the use of presumptive income tax (PIT) to help income tax implementation in developing countries. PIT uses an economic base such as turnover or assets, rather than actual income, to levy income tax.

Mr Memon said the main finding of his research is that PIT can be appropriately tailored to address an informal or underground economy, which is a major hurdle in developing countries.

"Having been a tax officer for the Federal Board of Revenue in Pakistan I know that computing income of small taxpayers is very hard in developing countries. Therefore my goal was to find a solution to the problems my country is facing in income tax implementation," he said.

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Media Contact: Marie Kelly | 9385 5895 | mariek@unsw.edu.au