ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue has decided to tighten the noose around Pakistanis having black money in Swiss banks and to retrieve money back into Pakistan.
The FBR acting Chairman Shahid Hussain Asad told Customs Today that a team of FBR experts will visit Switzerland 24th of this month to pursue Pakistan’s efforts to recover untaxed billions of dollars of Pakistanis stashed away illegally in Swiss banks.
He said that the team will formally initiate negotiations with the Swiss authorities for possible recovery of billions of dollars belonging to Pakistanis in foreign accounts.
“The FBR team will sign a dual tax agreement with Swiss government which would help FBR officials to recover Pakistani money belonging to Pakistanis and kept illegally in Swiss banks. FBR team would also request Swiss officials to provide names and addresses of account holders, after that FBR will start grand operation against these account holders,” FBR acting Chairman explained.
Moreover, FBR has also decided to facilitate and honor those account holders who voluntarily withdraw their money from Swiss banks and transfer to Pakistan.
The FBR acting Chairman said that recovery process could be lengthy and might take a few years because of its complexity. It is assumed that Pakistani nationals have over $200 billion in Swiss banks. One of the directors of Credit Suisse AG Bank has stated on record that $97 billion from Pakistan is deposited in his bank.
The FBR will seek help through the new Swiss law “The Restitution of Illicit Assets Act 2010 (RIAA)” to exchange confidential information about the ill-gotten monies stashed away in Switzerland’s banking system.
FBR team is expected to fly to Switzerland on 24th of this month where Pakistan would have to prove that the money deposited in Swiss banks by its nationals is untaxed.
