Karachi: The Pakistan Real Estate Investment Forum (PREIF) President Shaban Elahi has proposed the government to increase the deadline to avail tax amnesty scheme by one year, reported a news source. Elahi believes that the scheme should be run on the Indonesian model, so that the maximum number of people can avail it.
The Government of Pakistan expects to collect revenue worth USD 3.5 billion under the tax amnesty scheme. According to the deadline announced earlier, the scheme will expire on June 30, 2018. The Indonesian model of amnesty scheme spanned one year, where the percentage of tax applicable on declaring hidden assets was kept lower in the first quarter, and was gradually increased in the next quarter and the imposed tax percentage on bringing the undocumented assets into the tax net was the highest in the last quarter.
Elahi requested the authorities concerned to increase the deadline by at least three months and apply the Indonesian model where those who avail the scheme in the final days are made to pay taxes at a higher percentage. He believes that, as a huge number of people related to the real estate sector are looking to avail the tax amnesty scheme, the extension in the deadline can help the country increase its national exchequer.
