KARACHI: Traders can enjoy all benefits of tax amnesty scheme in just three days after joining the scheme, top Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials assured business community of metropolitan.
FBR, in bid to include traders in tax net, has motivated its top officials to give awareness to the business community regarding benefits of the tax amnesty scheme.
In this regard, Member Inland Revenue (IR) Policy Rehmatullah Wazir, Member Facilitation and Taxpayer Education Wing Nadeem Dar and Chief Income Tax Policy FBR Vishno Raja Qavi are in Karachi to clear the traders’ reservations over the scheme.
Addressing a seminar on voluntary tax compliance scheme, organised by the Karachi Tax Bar Association, Member Rehmatullah Wazir said that the traders, who want to join tax amnesty scheme, will be included in the active taxpayers list within three days and be entitled to all the benefits, including exemption from a withholding tax.
Wazir said that FBR encourage and facilitate new taxpayers and for the purpose a single-page very simple return form has been designed. He said sales tax registration is not required for availing the amnesty. However, traders filing sales tax returns will not be able to benefit from the scheme, he added.
Addressing on the occasion, Chief Income Tax Policy Vishno Raja Qavi said that the scheme was announced after detailed discussions and deliberations spread over multiple rounds of meetings with representatives of chambers and trade bodies across the country.
About tax amnesty scheme, it was pointed out that the traders can legalise capital of up to Rs50 million by paying one percent tax of the declared working capital in the tax year 2015.
Under this scheme, three options have been proposed for the traders. Under the first option, a trader will have to pay 25 percent higher tax than paid in the last return on the basis of taxable income. Under the second option, he can avail himself of three turnover tax slabs, and under the third option, can pay a total of Rs30,000 for not paying any tax in the last return. It has been suggested that traders will have to pay 25 percent higher tax in 2016-17 and 2018, than they paid in 2015 on the basis of taxable income.
