ISLAMABAD: Few hundred people filed returns under the one-time tax amnesty scheme until June 8, 2018, contributing a sum of nearly Rs350 million to the national exchequer since the scheme’s inception two months ago.

The scheme became effective from April 10 and will run till June 30, 2018. This is the fourth in a series tax amnesty scheme the PML-N government has offered in its five years term of government.

Official believes that one of the reasons why people are reluctant is that those intended to take benefit of the scheme both inside and outside Pakistan was waiting for the final outcome of the case on amnesty scheme in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

A Supreme Court bench is expected to commence hearing on the matter at the Lahore registry on Monday (June 11) for which notices have already been issued to the stakeholders.

An official in the finance ministry said that there was also doubt among people whether the scheme continue after the completion of PML-N government tenure.

Govt was aiming to raise billions of dollars through the scheme which runs out on June 30 unless extended

An official in the FBR told Dawn that another major reason of low response was the non-seriousness from the tax machinery. “Initially, there was no ownership from top tax officials towards the prime minister Amnesty scheme” an official who is privy to the development said.

The reasons for the lack of response was that FBR was not involved in creating the scheme and the so-called economic package including amnesty scheme was drafted and finalised in the prime minister secretariat.

After go ahead from caretaker government, FBR has now become active and devised an aggressive media campaign to target elite people in the country as well as abroad to lure them for availing the one-time tax amnesty scheme.

The campaign, according to a senior official in the FBR involved sending of electronic messages to people via mobile phone, telecasting messages on electronic media and printing of awareness advertisements in the leading newspapers of the country.

On the prospect of the scheme, a senior official who is not willing to be named said several hundred people have recorded their inquiries regarding availing of the scheme with various tax departments of the country.

The consultants of these prospective people have also approached the tax departments in the wake of making the schemes as part of the Finance Act 2018.Official believe the performance and outcome of the past scheme also do not offer hope as these schemes are designed to benefit a few. No outcome is expected until the scheme is followed by strong measures to ensure deterrence.

Until, the tax statutory period of five years for probing past cases is not abolished and the penalty of non-disclosure after the amnesty is raised to 300pc along with five years of impressments no outcome of these schemes are expected.

Otherwise, the fate of this amnesty will be no different from that of the past ones. In the 1958 amnesty scheme, an amount of Rs1.12bn was recovered from undeclared assets, followed by Rs920m in 1968, Rs1.5bn in 1976, Rs10bn in 2000 and Rs3.16bn in 2008.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2018