Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said that there would be no concession for individuals not availing the tax amnesty scheme, hinting at a possible crackdown against tax evaders after June 30.
The PM was talking to his economic team at Bani Gala, including Advisor on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Commerce Advisor Abdul Razak Dawood, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Dr Sania Nishtar, Planning Minister Khusro Bakhtiar, State Minister for Revenue Hammad Azhar and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Shabbar Zaidi.
The meeting discussed the budget which will be presented on June 11. The FBR chairman also briefed the prime minister on the tax amnesty scheme. Hammad Azhar briefed the meeting on the extension in the date of tax returns and tax revenue.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Imran Khan asked the economic team about steps being taken to bring the big fish into the tax net. “Why is it that only the salaried class pays taxes?” he asked.
“All state institutions are in sync when it comes to taking action against tax evaders. Those who fail to benefit from the amnesty scheme will not be spared,” he said.
The meeting also discussed various proposals that could create revenue of about Rs 1.45 trillion in the next fiscal year, taking the year’s revenue target to Rs 5.55 trillion from Rs 4.2 trillion.
The government is going to present the Economic Survey on June 10. The meeting also discussed budget proposals. Targets for taxation measures, for fiscal year 2019-20, including measures to add new resources and plugging lacunae in the tax machinery, were also discussed.
The Assets Declaration and Amnesty Scheme 2019 was introduced by the government through a presidential ordinance. It provides non-filers of tax returns an opportunity to whiten their undeclared assets at home and abroad and get into the tax net, besides introducing further budgetary measures in the run-up to entering into an International Monetary Fund programme.
