Missing paperwork: Afghan businessmen do not register with FBR, assembly told

Ministry estimates more than half of investments total up to Rs1.5 million.

ISLAMABAD:

Afghan nationals are sustaining businesses in Pakistan without registering their details with the Federal Board of Revenue or any entity at the provincial level, the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions said at the National Assembly session on Monday.

Responding to a query about the status of Afghan businessmen in the country, the ministry said that according to two surveys carried out in 2011, 44,076 Afghans (of a total of 1.7 million registered Afghan nationals) have invested between Rs18 billion to Rs45 billion in Pakistan over the last three decades. The Afghan Population Profiling, Verification and Response survey (PPVR) and a study on Economics Activities of Afghans in Pakistan conducted by UNHCR collated data from 135,452 households in order to provide baseline information on the different aspects of Afghan nationals’ lives in Pakistan. The ministry provided documents to the house showing that Afghan businessmen pay different direct and indirect taxes.

As many as 67.96 per cent of these Afghan businessmen have made investments ranging from Rs1 to Rs1.5 million and almost 96 per cent of all investments have been made below Rs5 million. Accordingly, 38.7 per cent of all enterprise owners pay taxes totalling about Rs707.33 million per annum. The document states that the ratio of Afghan nationals paying taxes to the number of registered nationals is nearly the same as tax-paying Pakistanis to their population.

Trade deficit

The ministry of commerce informed the house that the trade deficit during 2013-2014 (July-February) has remained at US$12.542 million as the country’s imports were recorded at US$29.408 million as compared to export worth US$16.866 million. Accordingly, the trade deficit remained US$20.490 million during 2012-2013 and US$21.288 million during 2011-2012.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8^th, 2014.