Tax amnesty scheme: Rs42 bn gets into state kitty before midnight

ISLAMABAD: Over 92,000 people benefited from the tax amnesty scheme on June 30 before the clock struck midnight, paying Rs42 billion out of which a major chunk comprises new filers, top government functionaries confirmed to The News.

“There are 64,000 who have submitted their declarations, while over 92,000 made payments to avail themselves of amnesty. So far, the deposited tax amount stands at Rs42 billion in totality out of which around Rs6 billion was paid by those who availed themselves of amnesty for whitening their foreign assets/income,” they said.

On the other hand, the total provisional tax collection figure of FBR stood at Rs3,820 billion till June 30 against revised tax collection target of Rs4,150 billion, indicating a revenue shortfall of Rs330 billion. Against initially envisaged tax collection target of Rs4,398 billion, the FBR has so far faced revenue shortfall of Rs578 billion.

Efforts are underway to jack up tax collection figure upto the level of last financial year when the FBR had collected Rs3,842 billion in the financial year 2017-18.

“There are some collection figures in the pipeline and we expect clearance of customs containers and netting of more taxes on account of Sales Tax and Income Tax,” they said, adding that all-out efforts were being made to touch the revenue collection figure of last fiscal year. So far, the FBR has achieved negative growth compared to its collection of last year.

On Asset Declaration Scheme, a top official said the amnesty scheme pace had slowed down after people heard about extension from top levels in the last couple of days. After the three-day extension, the FBR expects that the total number of people opting for amnesty might touch the figure of 100,000 and the government was expecting the figure to cross Rs60 billion to Rs70 billion.

Chairman FBR Shabbar Zaidi told this correspondent Sunday night that around 90 percent people availing themselves of amnesty had not been in the tax system before.

“The new taxpayers are availing themselves of the amnesty scheme,” he added. Another official told this reporter that the total number of filers had crossed the figure of 2 million for the first time in the country’s history.

They said scheme would lose it force at midnight, as a fresh presidential ordinance would come into force after midnight. They were hopeful that the ongoing scheme would bring positive economic changes, as the banking channels had reported increased figures of deposits.