ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) did not meet the target for collection of tax, as projected revised revenue target was of Rs3.935 trillion. However, the tax provisionally collected is Rs3.8 trillion by end of FY18, which results in the deficit of about Rs135 billion.
As per tax regulator officials, temporary data was still under collection, yet no final figure has been confirmed.
The government on Sunday has revised the Foreign Assets (Declaration and Repatriation) Act, 2018 and the Voluntary Declaration of Domestic Assets Act to extend the date for amnesty schemes for offshore and domestic assets till July 31st of this month.
In the financial year 2017-18, the previous government had set a target of Rs4.013 for tax collection purposes. The tax regulators provisional tax collection of Rs3.77 trillion was higher by 12.2 percent or Rs410 billion compared to FY17.
Depreciation of rupee against dollar has played vital role bringing constructive approach towards tax collection of around Rs65 billion, also the GDP growth of almost 10% have raised an extra Rs336 billion in the collection.
According to sources, numerous people faced problems related to confirmation about their dollar payments because of the declaration of foreign assets, as half matching with illegal names in the system could place transactions under investigation which will ultimately take few days to clear them.
As per State Bank of Pakistan official, these transactions would receive authentication in two to three days’ time.
The federal cabinet on the recommendations of the finance minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar approved the extension of closing date of tax amnesty schemes for the declaration of foreign assets and domestic income and assets till July 31st.
Earlier, the deadline for filing amnesty declarations was June 30th, 2018. However, people including trade bodies, professional associations and the general public were not comfortable with this date, due to which uncountable requests were received for extension in the closing date, as the time period is very short after clearing legal and procedural challenges.
The Finance Minister recommended extension of the cut-off date for availing amnesty schemes as there has been an overwhelming demand and response which is on the rise.
The date has been extended by one month to enable the general public to file declarations for undeclared foreign assets and undeclared domestic assets and income and thereby get their tax affairs in order.
Depending on flows, the schemes have potential to bring in macroeconomic and fiscal stability in the economy
Leave a Comment