ISLAMABAD: Despite Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s claim to bring one million traders under tax net through the tax amnesty scheme, only 3,205 out of 2.8 million traders have so far availed availing Voluntary Tax Compliance Scheme (VTCS), announced by the government for business community.
The government, rather punishing the non-filers, has been extending deadline for filing returns and also announced extension in last date for availing tax amnesty scheme.
Till one day before the end of extended period, only 3,205 people have availed of the scheme, paying Rs318 million along with tax returns. So far, the government has given six extensions in the date for filing the tax returns and the seventh one is on the cards.
Despite six extensions, only 924,000 people have filed the returns including the traders, a figure which is 122,000 less than the previous year.
In a written reply to the Senate, Ishaq Dar stated that 1.047 million people filed tax return in tax year 2014, while the number of filers remained 923,346 for tax year 2015.
Parliament had approved the tax amnesty scheme, called the Voluntary Tax Compliance Scheme. The government has offered the traders to legalise up to Rs50 million worth of hidden working capital by paying 1% of the declared amount in tax.
