Tax amnesty scheme: Major issues resolved, claims FBR official

Regional commissioner says tax authority is dispelling misconceptions

FAISALABAD: The tax amnesty scheme is a major step towards stabilising the national economy in the wake of dwindling foreign exchange reserves and declining exports, said Inland Revenue, Faisalabad Regional Commissioner Chaudhary Muhammad Tariq.

Addressing a joint meeting of various industrial, commercial and business associations at the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI), he said there were two major reservations against the amnesty scheme announced by the government.

All these have been resolved, while the Supreme Court has also cleared it, he said.

“We have launched a comprehensive and vigorous awareness campaign in order to enable maximum investors to derive benefit from the one-time facility,” said Tariq.

The regional commissioner said that Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Tariq Mehmood Pasha has been visiting various major business centres to interact and dispel possible apprehensions.

Commenting on tax-related problems, Tariq said Pakistan’s economy is facing multiple issues, and steps have been taken to rectify them, but it has had repercussions on other sectors. He said that decrease in foreign exchange reserves and declining exports are displaying worrying trends.

He said the outgoing government took measures to control inflation but a widening trade deficit nullified all economic achievements. “Now, some experts are floating proposals to get assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).”

He said that in order to overcome the impact of devaluation Pakistan will require revenue from Rs4 trillion to Rs6 trillion.

Commenting on the expansion of the tax net, he said that the government has taken two major steps, barring non-filers to purchase plots declared at over Rs5 million as well as new vehicles.

“This step has been taken to bring them into the tax net, which will certainly increase the number of taxpayers.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2018.

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