{"id":11536,"date":"2025-03-09T06:40:30","date_gmt":"2025-03-09T06:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/he-was-once-a-covert-taliban-operative-now-hes-the-friendly-taxman\/"},"modified":"2025-03-09T06:40:30","modified_gmt":"2025-03-09T06:40:30","slug":"he-was-once-a-covert-taliban-operative-now-hes-the-friendly-taxman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/he-was-once-a-covert-taliban-operative-now-hes-the-friendly-taxman\/","title":{"rendered":"He Was Once a Covert Taliban Operative. Now He\u2019s the Friendly Taxman."},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He is the Taxman of Kabul, a bearded, black-turbaned Talib with a genial manner and the calculating mind of a computer-savvy accountant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As director of the Taliban\u2019s Taxpayers Services Directorate, Abdul Qahar Ghorbandi has the unenviable task of raising revenue for the government of a wretchedly poor, isolated nation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">From his perch behind an enormous desk next to a black and white Taliban flag, Mr. Ghorbandi rides herd on hundreds of Afghan taxpayers each weekday. He makes sure they arrive with income documentation and leave with a fistful of tax forms to fill out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Teachers, money changers, truckers, wedding planners, grocers and others trudge the worn hallways of the imposing tax building, discussing their taxes with Talibs pecking away at computer terminals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Taliban have sought to ramp up tax collection after a severe economic contraction that followed their takeover in 2021. The authoritarian regime has been crippled by sanctions, in part over its harsh restrictions on women and girls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">U.S. aid, drastically reduced since 2021, could be eliminated entirely under President Trump\u2019s budget cuts. That aid has gone to the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations working in Afghanistan, not directly to the Taliban government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With the Taliban now in power, former guerrilla fighters must function as bureaucrats. In the 280-person tax department, they work alongside employees inherited from the U.S.-backed government that the Taliban overthrew.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAt the same table we have people with turbans, with beards, next to people with suits,\u201d said Mohammad Walid Haqmal, spokesman for the Ministry of Finance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Taxman himself, Mr. Ghorbandi, was an undercover operative for the Taliban in Kabul before becoming a civil servant, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Ghorbandi, who said he had a master\u2019s degree in computer science, presides over a tax administration computer system converted from English into Pashto and Dari. He has hired IT experts to modernize the department.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He has also tried to instill a culture of transparency, he said as he took a break for a lunch of beef kebabs and rice. His employees are not permitted to handle cash. Taxpayers take their forms to a government-run bank and pay taxes there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When he is not at his desk signing reams of documents delivered by aides hustling in and out, he said, he visits different sections of his department, asking taxpayers how he could make the process faster.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">International observers say the Taliban have reduced the tax <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/can-the-taliban-tackle-corruption-in-afghanistan-\/6942205.html\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">corruption<\/a> and cronyism that Afghans say were rampant under the U.S.-aligned government, while streamlining the process of collecting taxes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Although many well-connected Afghans once avoided paying taxes, Mr. Ghorbandi stressed that even as the government Taxman, he was not exempt. He said he paid 30,000 afghanis a month, or a little over $400.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">However open and efficient, it is still a tax office, though, and not every taxpayer leaves satisfied.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Shamsurahman Shams, who showed up one day late last year, had a beef with the Taxman. He said the two private schools he helped run had not turned a profit the past three years \u2014 and he carried a plastic folder stuffed with documents to prove it. Yet he had been assessed 500,000 afghanis, or about $7,350, in taxes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He engaged in a spirited but civil discussion with a department employee, showing the man his documents. There was no resolution. He was told to return later to resume negotiations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Although it was not the outcome he had hoped for, Mr. Shams conceded that the new process was more transparent than the previous system. \u201cAt least they listened to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During the war, the Taliban ran a lucrative tax system that levied customs duties, trucking fees and local taxes in areas they controlled. They also earned millions by imposing 10 percent taxes \u2014 \u201cushar\u201d in Islam \u2014 on poppy farmers, though they have since banned poppy production.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In 2023, the Taliban government collected about $3 billion in taxes, customs and fees, or 15.5 percent of gross domestic product. (The comparable rate in the United States was 25.2 percent). The biggest source for the Taliban was so-called <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/thedocs.worldbank.org\/en\/doc\/6f829bbf7186481f7eb31fbae459de5e-0310012024\/original\/Afghanistan-Economic-Monitor-October-2024-Final.pdf\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">nontax revenue<\/a> \u2014 customs duties, mining revenues, telecom licenses, airport charges, and fees for national ID cards, passports and visas, the World Bank reported. That revenue, for the first half of last year, increased 27 percent compared with the same period the previous year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Half of government revenues were spent on security and the military last year, and just 26 percent on social programs \u2014 most of that on education for boys, according to international observers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Ghorbandi said the tax system was not designed to be punitive. Generous exemptions mean that most ordinary Afghans do not pay income taxes. Shopkeepers with annual sales below two million afghanis, or about $29,500, also are exempt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Merchants with earnings over that amount are taxed at just 0.3 percent \u2014 a rate that American conservatives would surely appreciate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There are no cash penalties or interest fees for taxpayers who do not pony up on time. But scofflaws can lose their business licenses and access to the banking system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe are human,\u201d Mr. Ghorbandi said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to put burdens on our people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He and Mr. Haqmal, the Finance Ministry spokesman, said the ultimate goal was to eliminate all income taxes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt is a direct order from our supreme leader,\u201d Mr. Haqmal said. \u201cHe said: \u2018I need a tax-free Afghanistan.\u2019\u201d Mr. Haqmal was referring to Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban\u2019s emir and head of state.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Another direct order from Sheikh Haibatullah has been the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/04\/world\/asia\/women-taliban-prohibitions-afghanistan.html\" title=\"\">shredding of women\u2019s rights<\/a> and broader restrictions on civil liberties for all Afghans. Women are prohibited from traveling any significant distance without a male relative and are obligated to cover their entire bodies and faces in public. The sound of a woman\u2019s voice outside her home is <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/04\/world\/asia\/women-taliban-prohibitions-afghanistan.html?searchResultPosition=1\" title=\"\">banned<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A striking feature of the tax department\u2019s 15 sections in Kabul is the sight of female taxpayers in rooms crammed with men.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-11\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Lida Ismaeli, who operates a private school, sat next to a bearded Talib as he reviewed her tax status on a computer. She said no one had complained that she spoke with a male employee about her taxes with no male relative present.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-12\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Under the previous government, Ms. Ismaeli said, she never knew whether her taxes went to the government or into the pockets of the employee she paid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe system is better now \u2014 it\u2019s more fair,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Down a darkened hallway, Mohammad Taqi Irfani, a money changer, huddled over a computer screen with a tax employee. Mr. Irfani seemed resigned to his assessed tax payment of 73,500 afghanis, or about $1,080, on his annual earnings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He said he did not enjoy paying taxes \u2014 who does? \u2014 but his tax burden was clearly explained to him, and his business accounts were not questioned. Under the American-backed government, he said, tax collectors came to his office and demanded bribes to lower his tax assessment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey were in it just to make money for themselves,\u201d he said. \u201cSo far under this government, no one has ever asked me for a bribe.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-13\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Safiullah Padshah<!-- --> and <!-- -->Yaqoob Akbary<!-- --> contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/09\/world\/asia\/afghanistan-taliban-economy.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>He is the Taxman of Kabul, a bearded, black-turbaned Talib with a genial manner and the calculating mind of a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[1710,3246,469,1709],"class_list":["post-11536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-afghanistan","tag-income-tax","tag-politics-and-government","tag-taliban"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>He Was Once a Covert Taliban Operative. Now He\u2019s the Friendly Taxman. - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/he-was-once-a-covert-taliban-operative-now-hes-the-friendly-taxman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"He Was Once a Covert Taliban Operative. 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