Amnesty on voluntary declaration of foreign accounts and assets likely

The government is likely to seek voluntary declaration of foreign accounts and assets from taxpayers during the next financial year. Public officeholders, however, will be exempted from filing the declaration, Pakistan Today has learnt.

The public officeholders are being exempted because of the Parliamentary Committee working on the Terms of Reference (TORs) for the Panama Leaks commission. Those who declare foreign accounts and assets will be give a grace period to bring back their assets.

In another major development the government has finalised proposal to introduce market based property evaluation. Under the proposal if some property has been undervalued, it may be purchased by the government at higher price. It will help curb the practice of low valuation of property during sale and purchase.

The government is also likely to announce a high powered committee to recommend measures to curb the informal economy. The committee will work independently, study various sectors and recommend measures to stop trade practices promoting informal economy.

The government is likely to provide tax incentives for the Gwadar port area and the agriculture sector while it is also likely to increase taxes and duties on the existing tax paying sectors to meet the required growth target of tax revenue for the next fiscal year.

An informed source said that the government is likely to provide tax incentives for investment in Gwadar. China has already started work on the development of the Gwadar port. Announcement of tax incentive will help attract more Chinese companies to the CPEC projects.

The agriculture sector will also get relief as the government is likely to reduce taxes on urea fertilizer. GST and gas cess on urea have resulted in an increase in commodity prices leading to reduction in its usage and lower crop output. The duty on the import of tractors is also likely to be reduced to support mechanisation efforts in the country.

The government is likely to announce strict measures, fines and imprisonment to curb smuggling that affects local manufacturing. For the first time imprisonment of two to five years is likely to be introduced against smugglers through amendments in the customs act.

The FBR has finalised a proposal to impose 17 per cent GST on mineral water which will help generate Rs 2 billion next fiscal year. Similarly an increase in the federal excise duty on the import of mobile phones by 100 per cent has been finalised. The duty will be increased from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 for low-end phones while it will be increased from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 on high end phones.

The sectors paying less taxes will be levied indirectly. The electricity used by the marble sector is proposed to be taxed by Rs 1.25 per kilowatt which will help generate Rs 2 billion during the next fiscal year. Similar measures have been proposed against other tax evading sectors.