Karachi-based woman declares Rs165bn under amnesty scheme

A Karachi-based woman has become the highest taxpayer in Pakistan under the government’s tax amnesty scheme.

According to the local media, Karachi-based Maryam Ali paid Rs.3.3 billion rupees in tax after she declared the worth of her foreign assets at Rs.165 billion.

So far $300 million as tax have been received under the Tax Amnesty Scheme launched on April 10, 2018, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) revealed. The amnesty scheme legalize undisclosed assets and income of Pakistanis held abroad and home by paying just 2 to 5% taxes.

Pakistanis have approximately $150 billion assets abroad. Out of this, $40 dollars have been invested in real estate sector, revealed Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and industry President Shabbir Hussain Chawla. He said that if government succeeds in bringing back half of this amount, it will help Pakistan to generate sufficient funds to meet our domestic needs.

Public's response to the amnesty scheme has been positive, as the Tax Amnesty Scheme has received 10 times more response as compared to the previous scheme. However, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is still updating final figures of its beneficiaries and tax collected under this scheme.