ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Commit­tee on Finance on Tuesday witnessed a heated debate as opposition lawmakers accused the government of introducing too many amnesty schemes to woo the business community.

The committee meeting was chaired by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, who maintained his composure and prevented a serious row among committee members over the valuation of property rates and other amnesty schemes being offered to try and bring wealth back to the country.

The treasury side first faced resistance when a report of a sub-committee, tasked with suggesting ways of resolving anomalies in the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) property tax valuation tables, was presented.

The sub-committee, headed by PML-N MNA Mian Abdul Manan, was mandated to finalise the market rates for valuation to determine property tax. However, he encountered stiff criticism from members of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

Opposition lawmakers slam amnesty schemes; MNAs say FBR harasses taxpayers over audit

“It is not the parliamentary body’s responsibility to determine the market prices of properties in various parts of the country; this is a job for the relevant department,” said PPP’s Syed Naveed Qamar.

PTI’s Asad Umar declared that the crux of the sub-committee report was tantamount to allowing the laundering of ill-gotten money.

“We should be practical and sympathetic to ordinary citizens; an upright and honest person who earns an honest living cannot even afford a 10-marla plot in the country now, so who are we trying to facilitate?”

Members from both sides acknowledged that property prices across the country were too high and that the authorities had failed to act to correct these.

The committee members then directed the FBR to remove anomalies in the valuation tables, in the light of the recommendations made by the sub-committee and report back to the committee.

The chairman also directed the FBR to sit with committee members and devise a policy, which would be considered in the budget for the next financial year.

The committee asked the FBR to come up with a proposal for a new amnesty scheme, to be offered to Pakistanis, including non-resident citizens, to bring their wealth abroad back to the country.

Mr Manan informed the committee that the prime minister had agreed in principle with the business community’s demand and directed Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to work on such a scheme.

The committee chairman asked the FBR to present their proposal, while the business community would also be asked for proposals to attract Pakistanis to bring their wealth back to the country.

But this statement met stiff resistance from Asad Umar, who contended that tax amnesty schemes had been responsible for the country’s low tax-to-GDP ratio.

The discussion then turned to the audit policy of the FBR, where even members of the ruling party began criticising the tax authorities, saying that their audit policy was harassing the business community.

Eventually, Mr Sheikh intervened and addressing FBR chairman Dr Mohammad Irshad, said: “Your audit policy is creating problems for filers and decreasing tax-filing.”

The FBR chairman, however, defended himself by attributing the decline in the tax-to-GDP ratio to the self-assessment scheme, introduced in 2000.

He said that the process of taxpayer audit had been started after eight years.

However, Mr Umar stressed the need for a separate statutory body which dealt with taxpayers’ audit, because it was a clear conflict of interest for the FBR, whose responsibility was to generate revenue.

The committee was also briefed by Chief Census Commissioner Asif Bajwa, who responded to queries raised by MQM members and Fata MNAs.

The committee recommended that census issues pertaining to Fata IDPs should be resolved in consultation with Fata lawmakers, at which Mr Bajwa said that a meeting had already been scheduled at the Fata secretariat for Feb 28 in this regard.

The committee also recommended that Fata IDPs should be taken as an exceptional case, given the area’s current circumstances.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2017