Govt proposes amnesty scheme for provinces

Officials suggest an asset declaration scheme should also be presented to the provincial governments

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has proposed to introduce an amnesty scheme for provinces to whiten the black money made from services.

Officials in the finance ministry revealed that in this regard, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had sent a letter to Adviser to PM on Finance Abdul Hafeez Sheikh.

In the letter, it suggested that similar to the scheme offered at the federal level, an asset declaration scheme should also be presented to the provincial governments so efforts for bringing wealth to the mainstream could be fruitful. Officials said that during the visit of FBR Chairman Shabbar Zaidi to Karachi, the business community floated the idea and hence the finance adviser was requested to introduce the scheme at the provincial level.

Amnesty scheme for smuggled vehicles on the cards

According to a copy of the letter available with The Express Tribune, as per the Asset Declaration Ordinance, at 2% sales tax and federal excise duty, there is a chance to declare the undeclared assets made until June 30, 2018. But the collection of sales tax on services comes within the domain of provinces; therefore, the provincial governments should propose a tax amnesty scheme for services like the federal government so that it could be more effective and advantageous.

An FBR official said the objective of the tax amnesty was to document the economy and widen the tax net. The regularisation of the services sector would be helpful in documenting the economy.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2019.

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