Tax amnesty scheme extended till July 31

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has principally approved the extension in the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) tax amnesty scheme by one month i.e. till July 31 .

The federal government decided to extend the scheme and the federal cabinet was briefed on Saturday on the benefits under the scheme. June 30 was supposed to be the last day for availing the scheme. Sources said a presidential ordinance will be issued on the extension of the scheme and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had decided to keep special bank branches open until 10:00pm for the purpose.

According to the FBR, up til now 51,000 people have benefited from the scheme and the Board has received a payment of Rs65 billion so far. The tax amnesty scheme, announced by the PML-N government earlier this year, came into effect on April 10, 2018 and was to end till June 30, 2018. The scheme has been cited as an opportunity for people to file their local and foreign assets without facing any consequences. The FBR has warned that holders of undeclared local and foreign assets will face dire consequences if they do not declare assets after the expiry of the tax amnesty scheme.

In a related development, the federal government has accorded extension of three months to the registered Afghan refugees to stay in Pakistan. The facility has been extended to the refugees who are duly registered. The federal cabinet has decided to leave the matter for further and final action of the incoming elected government.

 The cabinet had its meeting here on Saturday with caretaker Prime Minister Nasirul Mulk in the chair at the Prime Minister House.Well-placed sources told The News after the cabinet meeting that the electioneering process and the arrangements were also reviewed by the members of the cabinet.

 They expressed satisfaction over the actions and arrangements made by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). They expressed resolve to provide all assistance to the ECP for holding the polls on the given schedule in free, fair and transparent manner. The sources pointed out that the demand made by a political party for the change in governors didn’t come up for consideration. It is understood that the matter has been shelved.

 The federal government while reviewing the findings of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting in Paris last week has decided to take all necessary actions to ward off any further negative fallout. It officially stated that Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar briefed the cabinet about the deliberations during the Paris meeting of FATF.

 The cabinet approved an amendment to include National University of Technology (Nutch) in Schedule-II of Rules of Business, 1973. The meeting approved Financial Institution Rules, 2018 and appointing FIA as the investigating agency as required under Section 20(7) of Financial Institutions (Recovery of Finances) Ordinance (FIRO), 2001.

 The budget of Capital Development Authority for the year 2018-19 was also approved by the cabinet.