Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday said that the government will within next 48 hours come up with a program to accommodate the procrastinators who have emerged in a huge number at the last moment to avail tax amnesty scheme expiring on June 30, 2019.

Talking to Pakistan Television’s special transmission ‘Aap Ka Paisa – Aap Kay Kaam’, the prime minister said he has discussed with Finance Advisor Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Shabbar Zaidi as how the government can facilitate such a people. He said it is being discussed whether the government should allow the people complaining the paucity of time to register within the deadline and get benefit from the scheme after June 30.

“I think the number of people interested in the scheme could be much larger if there was some clarification on what the purpose of this is, whether people have to deposit cash by June 30, whether this deadline can be extended by a couple of months. For instance, if you could register first and make the 4 per cent penalty payment, but deposit cash in the bank later?” he said. He noted that although it appears that leaving things until the last minute is a Pakistani trait, he is “considering it, because there’s a lot of pressure, and lots of people are saying that there is too little time and they want to register.”

Reiterating his call to the nation to avail the tax amnesty scheme, the prime minister said being a non-filer is an illegal act. Besides, the country cannot be steered out of the debt trap unless the people pay taxes, he said. Inherited from the British colonialism, the culture of tax evasion continued in Pakistan because the people found that their tax money was not being used for their welfare rather to support the luxuries of the ruling class, he added.

To a question, the prime minister assured the people that he will safeguard them from any harassment by any public institutions after they came under the tax net. He said along with the efforts to enhance the tax net, the government is also striving to reform the FBR to end the mistrust as well as get rid of the corrupt elements.

The prime minister also assured the nation that their tax money will be spent on them. He said for the first time, the government has reduced its expenditures with the salaries of the cabinet ministers reduced by 10 percent, PM House expenses by Rs 300 million and freezing of the defense expenditures in this budget. Recounting the philanthropic character of Pakistani nation, he said they can even collect Rs 8,000 billion if they make a resolve.

To a question about the rampant corruption in FBR, the prime minister said no one can mint money illegally if the national institutions are strong enough to make even the leaders accountable. He said the whole system spoiled when the ruling elite evaded taxes which ultimately led to the distrust among the business community and the destruction of the small business industry.

The prime minister said he has taken the responsibility to reform the FBR along with Shabbar Zaidi through scrutiny and e-governance as it is the matter of country’s survival. He said the government has allocated around Rs 200 billion for its anti-poverty initiative and questioned as how the government can spend required fund for public welfare when half of the tax money goes to the payment of markup on foreign loans.

He said the nations always face tough times and overcome too by increasing their revenue generation that is possible by allowing the businessmen to create wealth that will ultimately create jobs and enhance the tax ratio.

Asked what the tax payers would get in return from the government, he said no system can effectively work without carrot-and-stick policy. “This is why the government is struggling to reform the institutions and change the public mindset to declare the taxpayers and hard workers the real VIPs and send the money launderers to jail,” he added.