Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday hinted at extending the deadline of the Asset Declaration Scheme after “an increase in the demands of the public”.
“I am considering it (extension) because there’s a lot of pressure, and lots of people are saying that there is too little time left to register,” he said while interacting with members of the business community on a special PTV News telethon via video link. “I will discuss the possibility with Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Shabbar Zaidi and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh over the next 48 hours.”
Prime Minister Khan noted that leaving things until the last minute was a Pakistani trait. “I remember when we used to hold fundraisers for Shaukat Khanum (Hospital), no one used to buy tickets until the last day,” he recalled.
It is pertinent to mention that until an official notification with regard to any extension is issued, the deadline would remain the same as announced earlier by the government, i.e. June 30th.
The government’s tax amnesty scheme is aimed at whitening of undisclosed expenditures, sales and assets, including foreign assets, at nominal tax rates. It was approved by the cabinet after much deliberation and was announced earlier this month by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.
The scheme had come into effect through a presidential ordinance, which offered a period of 45 days to people for declaration of their undeclared assets, expenditures, and sales along with payment of taxes until June 30 this year.
The scheme has five main pillars — scope, default surcharge, exclusions, tax rates and conditions. It can be availed by all companies, associations of persons and individuals only to whiten their assets, expenditures and sales not declared until June 30, 2018. There is no provision for whitening undeclared incomes, either domestic and foreign.
Under the scheme, assets within the country and abroad (except for real estate) can be whitened after paying a rate of four per cent. The whitened cash assets will have to be kept in Pakistani bank accounts.
For people wanting to keep their whitened money abroad, a rate of 6pc will be charged.
For the declaration of real estate, its value will be considered 1.5 times more than the FBR-assigned value to bring it at par with the market rate, Dr Shaikh had said.
The amnesty scheme also has the facility for citizens to whiten their benami accounts and properties before the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act, 2017, is enforced.
The scheme was announced two days after the government reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund about a $6bn bailout to implement an “ambitious structural reform agenda” over a period of 39 months.
In a video message on May 30, the prime minister had said that the scheme was a “chance for [the people] to declare their benami properties and bank accounts” so they can become a part of the tax net.
He revealed that only 1 per cent of the population pays taxes. “1pc Pakistanis are bearing the burden of 220 million people. This is impossible,” he said. “No country can serve its people if the citizens don’t pay taxes.”
