ISLAMABAD: The amnesty scheme is getting momentum in its the last days of expiry as more and more local and overseas Pakistanis are contacting the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to benefit from the scheme by whitening their non-declared assets.
The FBR has obtained over Rs50 billion as tax in result of declaration of undeclared assets by overseas and local Pakistanis. June 30 is the last date of the tax amnesty scheme, the Voluntary Declaration of Domestic Assets Act, 2018. At the launch of the tax amnesty scheme, the government had high hopes of getting $3 billion to $4 billion revenue collection.
A source told Customs Today that over 50,000 people had benefited from this scheme and more were contacting especially a large number of overseas Pakistanis are interested in declaring their non- declared assets by depositing the announced rate of tax on the total value of their assets.
“Similarly, assets worth more than hundred and ten billion rupees have been disclosed and declaration of assets of same tune are in the pipeline,” the source said, adding that an individual had deposited tax of Rs550 million.
People disclosed that they have cash, assets, agriculture land ranging from millions to billions as one person only disclosed Rs15 billion undeclared wealth to tax officials. The Pakistanis living in foreign countries disclosed their offshore and undeclared money just because the tax officials will receive information about offshore financial accounts in September 30, 2018.
The source said that Pakistan was a signatory to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters which has been signed by most of the countries around the globe.
The said information of bank accounts maintained by Pakistanis abroad would be shared by those jurisdictions automatically in the last day of September. Source said that against this backdrop, amnesty on foreign assets was an opportunity for Pakistanis to declare undisclosed foreign assets at very low rates without incurring any penalties.
