Pakistanis foreign assets stand at $150 billion, which is double than the entire loans of Pakistan's history: Report
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ISLAMABAD - According to Moody’s, Tax amnesty scheme is the country’s first tax amnesty scheme which is directed at overseas assets, which according to AF Ferguson projections stands at $150 billion.
Moody’s, the credit rating agency on Thursday in its assessment of the tax amnesty scheme said its benefits may not last beyond June 2018.
It stated if the scheme became successful, it could help raise the government’s revenue base and reduce pressure on the fiscal front.
The credit rating agency said repatriation of liquid foreign assets back into Pakistan would help improve the balance-of-payments pressure in the remaining months of the current financial year 2017-18.
Under this tax amnesty scheme till end of June 2018, Pakistani nationals can repatriate “undeclared local liquid assets with a 5% penalty, undeclared foreign liquid assets with a 2% penalty (if repatriated, or a 5% penalty if remaining abroad or in foreign currencies), and undeclared fixed assets – whether held locally or abroad – with a 3% penalty. The low penalty rates, particularly for repatriated assets, increase the likelihood of the scheme’s success,” read the report.
Its analysis said widening the tax base by the inclusion of previously undeclared assets would assist in decreasing Pakistan’s existing fiscal crisis.
