**Pakistan Announces Mandatory "Brain Drain" Tax for Anyone With a Passport**

Pakistan announces mandatory “brain drain” tax for anyone with a passport

ISLAMABAD (AP) — In a move that’s definitely going to fix the economy this time, the Pakistani government has announced a new “National Exodus Levy,” a 50% surcharge on any passport renewal, with the official explanation being: “We know you’re leaving, so please leave your savings behind too.”

Local economists have unanimously declared this a “bold, innovative strategy” that will single-handedly solve the country’s energy crisis, water shortage, and the inexplicable 3 PM chai shortage. Citizens have responded with the traditional reaction: a collective, resigned sigh, followed by a frantic WhatsApp forward about a cheaper passport renewal loophole discovered by “a friend’s cousin’s brother who works in Nadra.”

TL;DR? AITA for thinking a 50% tax on a passport isn’t actually going to stop the richest families from moving their money to Dubai and is, in fact, just a way to squeeze the last few rupees out of the desperate pleb?