Plan to collect tax on offshore assets

ISLAMABAD: In order to move against owners of offshore assets abroad, the FBR has sought powers of provisional assessments for creation of tax demands against those who never bothered to declare anything in Pakistan.

These tax demands could be shared with the jurisdictions of OECD countries that might pave the recovery of due taxes from owners of offshore assets.

In the supplementary finance bill 2019, which was laid down before parliament on Wednesday, the FBR proposed provisional assessment in case of an offshore asset not declared earlier if such asset is discovered by the commissioner or any department or agency of the federal or provincial government.

In the aftermath of OECD facility of automatic exchange of information, the FBR has received information about 100,000 bank accounts, and work was underway whether these foreign assets were declared by the taxpayers or never bothered to declare their offshore assets or bank accounts.

“The Supreme Court of Pakistan is asking [the] FBR for actions taken against owners of offshore assets,” said the FBR’s Member Inland Revenue Policy Hamid Atteq Sarwar while briefing reporters in technical briefing here at the Board headquarters on Wednesday.

Now the tax demands could be generated once this was approved by parliament, and it would help the FBR to move against those owners of offshore assets who had never declared anything before the tax authorities.