Tax amnesty scheme extended till July 3

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s adviser on finance, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, has announced that the deadline for the tax amnesty scheme – known as the Assets Declaration Scheme 2019 – has been extended till Wednesday (July 3).
He made the announcement during a press conference in the federal capital.
Shaikh was accompanied by Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairperson Shabbar Zaidi, and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan.
A day prior, Zaidi had clarified that there would be no extension in the amnesty scheme as opposed to the speculation rife in social and mainstream media.
The FBR chief had rubbished rumours that have been circulating for the past few days, insisting that “there would be no extension in the amnesty scheme”.
The federal government had introduced the Asset Declaration Scheme 2019 in May, the deadline of which was supposed to end yesterday (Sunday, June 30).
However, on June 28, Prime Minister Khan had hinted at extending the deadline, indicating that a new programme may be introduced in the next 48 hours, a development that at that time sources, too, had confirmed.
Sources had said that the FBR was likely to do so as it struggles to get the desired results and that more people could benefit from it.
Speaking with state broadcaster Pakistan Television (PTV) about the Assets Declaration Scheme, the prime minister had said that people believed their tax payments would be wasted, which is why his government is making efforts to help the public realise that their money would only be spent on them.
“If the people do not pay taxes, we would be unable to pull ourselves out of this quicksand of loans. We need to work together,” he had said.
“If the public wishes, we can easily collect taxes worth Rs8tn. It is now up to the people to decide if we want to work together to help the country sustain itself” independently, he had added.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government has decided to bring major changes in the overall structure of the FBR, in which the board’s headquarters will be trimmed and the number of members will be reduced from over one dozen to just four or five.
Prime Minister Khan had hinted at bringing reforms in the FBR that will be introduced in first or second week of July.
A blueprint of the reform plan is moving towards assigning certain officers on the basis of sectors instead of allowing them to deal with all kind of cases under the jurisdiction of Large Taxpayers Units (LTUs) and Regional Taxpayers Offices (RTOs).
The shape of the FBR will be changed altogether as the government plans to come up with over one dozen sectors such as textile, steel, sugar, cement, real estate, jewellers, auto, retail, wholesale and others with specific structure arrangement.
The FBR is shifting towards sectoral directors-general and specialists under the upcoming new arrangement, said one top official.
“The government has decided to appoint one Chief Information Officer with assigned responsibilities to co-ordinate with the FBR field formation, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), and other entities to establish close liaison and gather all kinds of data for using as tool to broaden the narrowed tax base,” top official sources confirmed.
A blueprint of the FBR reform plan will be shared with the masses in first or second week of July.
The government believes that after making basic changes in the structure of the taxation laws, the structure of the FBR requires overhauling as its existing structure cannot deliver on the ground.