ISLAMABAD – The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) rings alarm bells for thePakistanis holding UAE Iqama.
FBR has demanded the UAE’s Ministry of Finance to provide information ofall Pakistanis who have sought UAE Iqama under the Residence by Investmentscheme.
In a statement on Monday, the FBR wrote a letter to UAE authorities. in itsletter to the UAE ministry stated that such “delinquent” individuals hadnot only siphoned off funds from Pakistan and parked them in the UAE, butthey also effectively circumvented the OECD-sponsored CRS exchange of bankand financial account information.
So far, the Emirati Ministry of Finance has not responded to all earlierrequests of the FBR in this regard.
The FBR letter stated that the automatic exchange of information framework,in essence, was conceived and implemented to put up a well-coordinated andconcerted global fight against organised tax theft and to injecttransparency in the international taxes system.
“The UAE’s persistent silence on FBR’s efforts to develop a robustframework for sharing of structured information of Pakistani Iqama holdershas not been productive so far,” the revenue authority said in its letterto the UAE Ministry of Finance.
“The best inter-nation relationships are mutually responsive, symbiotic andempathetic, and are the product of superior diplomatic wisdom.” The revenuewatchdog has requested the UAE to provide a well laid-out roadmap ofPakistani Iqama holders’ information.
Alternatively, it warned, Pakistan would be constrained to seriouslyconsider rolling out “appropriate measures”.