NPR.

This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Darym Woods. And today I'm joined by Betsy Jolz, NPR's regular contributor from Pakistan.

Thanks for joining us, Betsy. Glad to be here,

Darien. So you've been reporting from Pakistan for several years now, which means you've seen

some major economic bumps, including a near default in 2023. That was a recent low point for sure,

and it came just before a bailout from the International Monetary Fund,

which is a serial lender to Pakistan. Pakistan's economy has recovered somewhat since then,

but there are still some major structural issues, and one of them is seriously low tax collection.

Ah, yes, taxes. A thorn on the side of Pakistan's economy and in the side of every worker.

That's definitely how Pakistanis feel, so millions of people here just opt out of paying income

taxes entirely, and the country's been trying to change that, so it doesn't need to constantly

borrow from the IMF. Of course, Pakistan has its own version of the IRS, which tracks incomes,

but it's not that simple or effective.

So tax authorities have launched something they're called lifestyle monitoring, which

essentially means scouring social media accounts for people flaunting extravagant lifestyles,

but not paying taxes.

It may sound gimmicky, but it's meant to send a message to all those tax evaders out there.

So on today's show, we'll be talking about why there are so many tax dodgers in Pakistan,

what the government is trying to do about it, and whether those plans will work.

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