Business Leaders demand separate amnesty schemes for local and foreign Pakistanis

Muhammad Naveed, Senior Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called upon the government  to focus on introducing separate tax amnesty schemes for local and foreign Pakistanis that would enable them to declare their hidden assets and bring more capital within the country for business and investment activities.

He said Pakistan was facing record high trade deficit while the exports of the country were not improving for the last many years due to which the financial resources of the country were under great pressure. In these circumstances offering attractive amnesty schemes to local and foreign Pakistanis could be a good move to declare hidden assets and bring more capital in the country to improve the economy. He said such amnesty schemes will also promote documentation and contribute to broaden the tax base of the country as well.

Muhammad Naveed said that in Pakistan tax rates were quite high which were discouraging tax culture in the country. He stressed that in the forthcoming budget, government should reduce tax rates to single digit level that would help in promoting tax culture, expanding tax net and improving tax revenue of the country as with reduced tax rates, people would willing pay tax to the national exchequer. He said government should also bring tax reforms to make taxation system of the country simplified and easy to comply for a common taxpayer.

Ch. Abdul Rauf, former President, Islamabad Estate Agents Association emphasized that tax amnesty scheme should help in accelerating the economic growth through production and utilization of hidden liquid assets in the manufacturing activities. He said that government should also introduce a fixed tax rate for the real estate sector to give boost to business activities in the property and construction sector.

Rana Shahid, President, Bahria Enclave Association and Yasir Mehdi President Swan Garden Society said that many Pakistanis were shifting their capital to Dubai and other foreign destinations to make investment in real estate and other sectors. They urged that amnesty schemes should be designed in such a way as to help in declaring hidden assets and bringing in more capital of expatriate Pakistanis within the country. He said the main focus of the amnesty schemes should be to stop the capital flight from Pakistan.