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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Bills to cleanse black money turned down

By Mehtab Haider
April 24, 2018

ISLAMABAD: In a major blow to the ruling party, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance has unanimously rejected two amnesty bills for declaration of domestic and foreign assets while passed Income Tax (amendment) Bill for reducing tax rate and enhancing limit of taxable ceiling up to Rs1.2 million.

NA body chairman Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh extended his all-out support to opposition members that paved the way for rejection of the amnesty scheme. Now the alarm bells must have rung in the ranks of the ruling party about getting smooth approval of the amnesty scheme and passing of budget 2018-19 from Parliament. In case of defeat on Finance Bill, the government will stand dissolved.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance also recommended to federal and provincial governments for presenting four-month budget instead of unveiling the same for the whole financial year. However, Minister of State for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal told the committee that the government was ready to evolve consensus on budgetary issues with all political parties but the government did not intend to take any major step in the upcoming budget.

The NA Standing Committee on Finance held its meeting under chairmanship of Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh here at the Parliament House in which the amnesty bills related to declaration of foreign and domestic assets were rejected by the PTI, MQM-Pakistan and PPP and astonishingly the chairman of the Committee also extended its support in favour of opposition for rejecting these two bills moved by the government.

The FBR’s Member IR Policy Dr Iqbal told the committee that no one had so far availed himself of the amnesty scheme and this scheme could be availed up to June 30, 2018. He said that it was not yet decided by the government whether amnesty scheme would be made part of Finance Bill 2018 or separate bills would be got passed from Parliament.

Asad Umar belonging to PTI opposed the amnesty scheme and said that all dacoits, thieves and corrupt would avail themselves of this amnesty scheme. Rasheed Godal from MQM-Pakistan, Dr Nafisa Shah from PPP and others opposed the government’s move to present whole year budget and said that the outgoing regime should present for four months only. “It's pre-poll rigging if the government decides to present the whole year’s budget,” said Rasheed Godal.

Rana Afzal, Minister of State for Finance said that the government would not announce new development projects. “We will increase salaries in accordance with opposition demands,” he added. He requested the parliamentarians to allow presenting full fiscal year budget and offered to restrict important decision for four months only.

The Special Secretary to Finance Ministry Noor Khan told the committee that there was no legal bar for presenting four-month or full year budget as this decision should be taken by the political leadership and they can either present four-month budget or full year budget but it should be the decision of the political leadership. To another query raised about monster of circular debt, the Special Secretary of Finance said that the government prepared roadmap to clear the burden of circular debt.