Obtaining details from the foreign banks and bringing back billion of rupees to the country of ‘Iqama’/work permit holder Pakistanis has become next to impossible till July 2018, while the Federal Board of Revenue is in preparation to launch an amnesty scheme as a last resort in this regard.
Official sources at Finance Ministry on condition of anonymity told Pakistan Today that Pakistan had signed an agreement with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in September 2016 to get the details about the offshore accounts of Pakistanis. And, the banks of OCED member countries will start sharing information from July 2018.
“Acquiring information about the offshore accounts of Pakistanis from foreign banks and brining back their money is not possible before July 2018,” the officials said. However, they said Pakistan will be unable to get information about the bank accounts of those Pakistanis who have UAE work permit/Iqama even after July 2018.
Ironically, incumbent federal ministers of ruling Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz including Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif and Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal are holding Iqamas/work permits of various countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia etc.
It is also learnt that getting a UAE Iqama was cheaper and easier as UAE has no residency requirements except that one visit is mandatory in 6 months to maintain the Iqama. And, rich Pakistanis use UAE Iqama for registering themselves with Swiss/foreign banks so that they can show themselves as tax residents in the UAE only because account holders are reported by banks on the basis of residency rather than to their nationality). Similarly, If Iqama holder Pakistani has an account with either a Swiss or with any other foreign bank then he enjoys automatic immunity from reporting.
The sources further said that though Pakistan and Switzerland had entered into an exchange of information agreement, however, those Pakistanis who are account holders in Switzerland and have a UAE Iqama registered with the bank as their place of residence will not be reported to any country. They will remain out of the Pakistan probe radar as far as the bank account is concerned. The banks will not disclose details of bank accounts of the ousted PM Nawaz Sharif as he holds a UAE Iqama.
At present large number of MNAs, Senators, and members of provincial assemblies (MPAs) are allegedly holding Iqama/foreign work permits but they have not submitted its details with Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Even, some of them have allegedly not submitted their complete tax returns with Federal Board of Revenue.
Sources in Federal Board of Revenue on condition not to be named said FBR was working hard to launch an amnesty scheme to bring back the offshore wealth of Pakistanis deposited with foreign banks. They said the FBR would soon brief Prime Minister Shahaid Khaqan Abbasi about the amnesty scheme which, will be launched hopefully by December this year. Moreover, FBR is set to issue notices to the parliamentarians over absence of complete details of their tax returns.
Similarly, sources in ECP said that the ECP was scrutinising the documents of parliamentarians after the disqualification of former premier Nawaz Sharif owing to hiding the Iqama. They said a severe action is likely very soon against all those parliamentarians that have not submitted complete details of their assets with ECP.
It is pertinent to mention here that getting a residency in UAE was not difficult task as there were easy options to get residency in such countries by buying property or registering a company. Similarly, residency of other country has become an easy and cheaper way to hide the details of foreign bank accounts. And, rich Pakistanis use this strategy and open bank accounts abroad only to hide their offshore wealth. Also, not only UAE banks but all foreign banks including Swiss banks register account holders on basis of residency rather than nationality. Furthermore, a Pakistani having residency abroad like former PM in UAE would not be reported to Pakistan.