FBR asks UK for a list of Pakistanis with immovable assets; warns punitive measures

After collecting more than Rs. 97 billion from 53,000 tax submitters under the Tax Amnesty 2018, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is taking measures to go after tax evaders and absconders who have stashed their funds abroad. FBR is currently preparing a list of top tax evaders who have immovable properties and assets in UK, UAE and other countries.

According to FBR, the extension in Amnesty Scheme did not yield any fruitful result as only 2,000 people applied for tax submission during the extended period. It is not satisfied with the number of submissions under Amnesty Scheme 2018 as it believes the quantum of wealth was not declared in Amnesty filings.

The FBR has suggested to take extreme measures against evaders who did not take advantage of this golden opportunity. It says that it has a list of more than 4,000 largest tax evaders which has already been submitted to the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) and the Supreme Court (SC).

According to FBR, the major chunk of declarations under the Tax Amnesty, 2018 have come from the Gulf state Dubai. Considered as the haven for real estate investment, majority of tax evaders and those earning from illegal modes of investment end up in Dubai, UAE. But as the global grip gets tighter on money laundering, Dubai and other tax havens have initiated legal clauses that bar such investments inflows from many countries.

The FBR informed that it has obtained information regarding immovable properties owned by Pakistanis in United Kingdom after doing so for Dubai, UAE.

FBR statement said that information has been obtained with the assistance of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and UK tax authorities.

Pakistan had signed two Conventions in 2016 and 2017 in this regard.

Becoming signatory of the conventions facilitates international cooperation on national tax laws and provides administrative cooperation among member countries to combat tax evasion.