Tax amnesty deadline relief on the cards

PM says strategy discussed to allow people to register themselves and benefit from scheme later

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday hinted at the possibility of extending the deadline of the assets declaration scheme, which is set to expire on June 30.

“Suddenly many people are expressing their willingness to come under the tax net but are complaining about the shortage of time as the scheme is about to expire,” the premier said on the state-run PTV’s special transmission.

He added that he had discussed with Federal Board of Revenue [FBR] Chairman Shabbar Zaidi and Finance Adviser Abdul Hafeez Sheikh about a strategy that would allow people to register themselves within the deadline and benefit from the scheme later.

“We will come up with a programme within the next 48 hours," he added.

The premier said evading taxes was a culture that had its roots in the time when the British were ruling the subcontinent.

“The British treated the locals like slaves and that’s why it considered a good thing to avoid paying them taxes,” he maintained.

The premier said the government was striving to reform the institutions and change the public mindset to make the taxpayers the real VIPs and send money launderers behind bars.

He again urged the nation to avail the tax amnesty scheme to steer the country out of the debt trap.

PM rejects any extension in deadline to avail tax amnesty scheme

Price hike

The prime minister took notice of the steep rise in prices of food items and other essential commodities and ordered the chief secretaries of the provinces and the Islamabad chief commissioner to take urgent measures to stop hoarding and ensure the implementation of the price control mechanism.

The Prime Minister’s Office issued instructions to the authorities concerned to launch a special campaign to provide relief to the people.

The premier noted that lack of coordination between government departments and unwillingness to discharges responsibilities had rendered the laws for keeping prices in check ineffective and added to the woes of the common man.

He ordered that a strategy be chalked out for curbing the price hike.

He instructed the authorities to make the price and market committees more effective and take strict action against those found violating the rules.

The prime minister directed field officers to visit wholesale markets and determine the fair rates of the goods being auctioned.

He instructed chief secretaries to visit the markets to ensure that commodities were being sold at rates fixed by the government.

The Special Branch was directed to submit daily monitoring reports on the prices to the chief minister and chief secretaries.

The prime minister ordered strict action against hoarders and profiteers.

The provincial authorities have been directed to submit their progress reports to the prime minister after seven days.