Whitening of black money: new amnesty scheme on the cards

3,500 individuals approached FBR in previous scheme, but failed to meet formalities in time

ISLAMABAD: The federal government is planning to launch a scheme for more than 3,500 individuals who had approached the authorities for whitening their black money, worth more than Rs300 billion, under the amnesty scheme launched by the previous government, but failed to submit the required declarations before the expiring of the deadline.

Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar has confirmed that the government will soon introduce a scheme for those who had submitted tax challans with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) under the amnesty scheme, but were unable to file asset declarations by the July 31 deadline.

The individuals who had failed to submit income tax returns had contacted the FBR, seeking permission for submitting the relevant declarations so that they could benefit from the amnesty scheme, said the minster. The FBR was reviewing the proposal, he maintained.

The proposed scheme would benefit those who had submitted challans or faced mode of payment issues and whose payment IDs had been generated.

According to a document obtained by Daily Express, more than 3,500 individuals failed to pay taxes despite having their declarations prepared under Section 5 of the Local Assets Act of 2018. A large number of such individuals had written to the FBR, citing various reasons for not filing their asset declarations or being unable to submit their tax returns.