ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday his government would not extend a June 30 deadline to avail a new tax amnesty scheme aimed at broadening the revenue base and warned that those who did not declare assets under the facility would face “confiscation and punishment.”
The scheme, approved by cabinet last month, will allow Pakistani citizens, except public office holders and their spouses, to declare hidden assets by paying 4 percent tax on domestic and 6 percent tax on offshore assets.
Speaking to Pakistan’s Geo News channel on Monday evening, Khan urged people to avail the tax amnesty scheme to avoid punishment.
“Government would not extend the deadline of the tax amnesty scheme ending on June 30,” he said, adding that people who did not declare ‘benami’ (anonymous) properties and bank accounts “would face confiscation and punishment” under new laws.
Pakistan’s $300 billion economy faces a ballooning current account deficit and dwindling foreign exchange reserves due to rising imports, low revenue collection and loss making state owned enterprises.
In a budget proposal announced earlier this month, the government targeted federal tax revenues of 5.55 trillion rupees ($36.80 billion), up 25% and driven by a lower introductory threshold for income tax and a clampdown on tax evasion. The government had failed to hit last fiscal year’s goal of 4.44 trillion rupees. The Pakistani rupee has also lost about a third of its value this year and inflation has jumped above 9%.
Last month, Pakistan reached an accord with the International Monetary Fund for a three-year, $6 billion bailout package aimed at shoring up fragile public finances and strengthening a slowing economy. The program envisages reforms to improve public finances and cut public debt, including “revenue mobilization measures to eliminate exemptions, curtail special treatments, and improve tax administration,” the IMF statement said.
The IMF loan is contingent on measures being taken to cut a budget gap that the Fund forecast at 7% in 2018/19.
In Monday’s interview, Khan said the economy was under severe stress because half the government’s income went to debt repayments and servicing interest on heavy foreign loans.
Pakistan’s national debt had increased from Rs6,000 billion to Rs30,000 billion in the last decade, the PM said, adding that the debt trap had compelled the country to keep seeking fresh loans in order to pay the interest on previous loans.
This situation was the result of rampant tax evasion and corruption, which Khan said he was resolved to weed out.
“Tax money will be utilized for the welfare of the people,” PM Khan said, directing his economic team to establish a special helpline to receive complaints against harassment by tax collecting body, the Federal Board of Revenue.
‘Confiscation and punishment’ if assets not disclosed by June 30, PM tells nation
‘Confiscation and punishment’ if assets not disclosed by June 30, PM tells nation
- Directs economic team to establish helpline for harassment complaints against tax collecting body
- Promises tax revenue will be used for “welfare of the people”
Sindh assembly passes resolution rejecting move to separate Karachi
- Chief Minister Shah cites constitutional safeguards against altering provincial boundaries
- Calls to separate Karachi intensified amid governance concerns after a mall fire last month
ISLAMABAD: The provincial assembly of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Saturday passed a resolution rejecting any move to separate Karachi, declaring its territorial integrity “non-negotiable” amid political calls to carve the city out as a separate administrative unit.
The resolution comes after fresh demands by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and other voices to grant Karachi provincial or federal status following governance challenges highlighted by the deadly Gul Plaza fire earlier this year that killed 80 people.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most densely populated city, is the country’s main commercial hub and contributes a significant share to the national economy.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah tabled the resolution in the assembly, condemning what he described as “divisive statements” about breaking up Sindh or detaching Karachi.
“The province that played a foundational role in the creation of Pakistan cannot allow the fragmentation of its own historic homeland,” Shah told lawmakers, adding that any attempt to divide Sindh or separate Karachi was contrary to the constitution and democratic norms.
Citing Article 239 of Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution, which requires the consent of not less than two-thirds of a provincial assembly to alter provincial boundaries, Shah said any such move could not proceed without the assembly’s approval.
“If any such move is attempted, it is this Assembly — by a two-thirds majority — that will decide,” he said.
The resolution reaffirmed that Karachi would “forever remain” an integral part of Sindh and directed the provincial government to forward the motion to the president, prime minister and parliamentary leadership for record.
Shah said the resolution was not aimed at anyone but referred to the shifting stance of MQM in the debate while warning that opposing the resolution would amount to supporting the division of Sindh.
The party has been a major political force in Karachi with a significant vote bank in the city and has frequently criticized Shah’s provincial administration over its governance of Pakistan’s largest metropolis.
Taha Ahmed Khan, a senior MQM leader, acknowledged that his party had “presented its demand openly on television channels with clear and logical arguments” to separate Karachi from Sindh.
“It is a purely constitutional debate,” he told Arab News by phone. “We are aware that the Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules the province, holds a two-thirds majority and that a new province cannot be created at this stage. But that does not mean new provinces can never be formed.”
Calls to alter Karachi’s status have periodically surfaced amid longstanding complaints over governance, infrastructure and administrative control in the megacity, though no formal proposal to redraw provincial boundaries has been introduced at the federal level.
