Govt announces to introduce new tax amnesty scheme before next budget
ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Finance Minister Asad Umar on Tuesday announced that a new tax amnesty scheme would be introduced before next budget.
Talking to the journalists, the minister said the trade fraternity was demanding tax amnesty scheme and that its features were being prepared ahead of the budget for the individuals to declare their local and foreign assets under the scheme.
Umar further said the power tariff is determined by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) and it would still be determined by the regulator. He also said the government would end withholding tax on non-filers in the next budget.
Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar said the government was accumulating data and within a couple of days it would be made public that how many notices had been issued.
To a question, the minister said notices had been issued regarding fake accounts. To another query, Asad Umar said the court had disqualified senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Khan Tareen, which did not mean that he was no more a citizen of the country.
“If the prime minister thinks that Jahangir Tareen can give beneficial suggestions, then there is no harm,” he said.
Separately while addressing a ceremony in Islamabad, the finance minister said that the government was mulling to abolish unnecessary withholding taxes.
Asad Umar underscored the need for reforms in property business. He said that the current tax system could not detect transactions and profit in property business.
No concrete objections against NFC Award received, says Asad Umar
Asad Umar has said that the dialogues on the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award had been welcoming and no concrete objections were received from any province in this regard.
Talking to the media after a meeting of the 9th National Finance Commission Award on Friday, he declared the share of the provinces in the 9th National Finance Commission would not be reduced.
“Bilawal’s talk about non-issuance of funds from the Federation is a political objection. The current account deficit has been reduced to US$ 395 million from US$2 billion,” he claimed.
He dismissed the reports about the imposition of tax on transferring Rs 25,000 are a white lie. “The formation of the NFC Award is not linked to the dialogues with the International Monetary Fund (IMF),” he said.
The minister said that the next budget will be prepared as per last year’s NFC Award.
