Register now, pay taxes later, PM Imran tells nation

  • Says people can declare their assets by June 30 deadline and make payments in instalmentsĀ 
  • Promises to reform tax authority, says no one will be allowed to harass taxpayers

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday made yet another appeal to the nation to avail the tax amnesty scheme and declare their undeclared assets, pleading them to at least register for the scheme if they could not make the payments by the deadline.

ā€œInstallments will also be given [but] no extension after June 30,ā€ Imran said while speaking in a TV programme on a private channel.Ā He added that no extension will be given but Sunday will be open to facilitate people.

ā€œWe pay the least tax. In the past 10 years, we took many loansā€ and a lot of the expenditure ā€œgoes in the interest on those taxes,ā€ said the premier.

ā€œWe need to get out of this quicksand. We have to change ourselves,ā€ the premier said. ā€œIn the 60s, Pakistan was on the rise,ā€ he said, but ā€œwe donā€™t pay taxes. Thereā€™s too much corruption here.ā€

Commenting further on the hesitance of Pakistanis regarding paying taxes and how their taxes would be used, Imran said: ā€œPeople think their tax wonā€™t be spent on them. They believe itā€™ll be stolen or wonā€™t be spent on them.

ā€œHowever, I promise it would definitely be spent on them.ā€

The PM gave two assurances during his comments: That ā€œnobody will be allowed to harass the tax-payersā€ and that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) ā€œwill be reformedā€.

Further, he clarified that non-custom-paid vehicles were not included in the scheme but those vehicles that were custom-paid but not declared can be declared.

Speaking of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership and its accomplishments, Khan said: ā€œThe information the government has today, no government had it previously.

ā€œBenami [unnamed] property will be confiscated in addition to other punishment,ā€ he stressed.

At present, there is ā€œmoney-laundering of $10 billion each yearā€.

The prime minister also took questions from the chambers of commerce from around Pakistan, with that of Lahore requesting Khan to ease the conditions for businesses by bringing down the interest rate.

ā€œOur aim is simple. We are connecting citizens with their governors and representatives who will answer the citizenā€™s connections. We are the facilitators and the middlemen whose job is to conduct people,ā€ the premier said.

ā€œHere questions will be asked by the people. We can only encourage them to ask questions and avail the opportunity to clear their understandings and also encourage the representatives and the governors of the country to take the chance and clarify the solutions you have created for the problem in the hope of saving the country.

ā€œOne this is for sure: our tax collection rate is the lowest in the world and Pakistan canā€™t continue as a state with this current state of affairs!ā€

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