A major U-turn in the offing

[SIPRA]

How is Imran Khan a thief? Or Assad Umar, or Hafeez Shaikh?

I didn't mean them. They are powerless, at least, in this respect.

 

[Khafee]

The upcoming amnesty scheme of the PTI government will make the much trumpeted Assets Recovery Unit of the government redundant besides dashing hopes built by the ruling party for bringing back hidden US$200 billion from overseas.

As the government is all set to announce amnesty scheme to encourage Pakistanis to declare their hidden and untaxed wealth held both within the country and offshore, this initiative will directly hit the purpose for which the Assets Recovery Unit of the government was established by the Imran Khan government.

Official sources said that the Imran Khan government has now realized that what it had promised about the bringing back of looted $200 billion from abroad is an impossible task.

Not only that the PTI government could not find any credibility in the much quoted $200 b figure that was said to be stashed in offshore accounts, it has also understood finally that it can’t even recover the $9 billion wealth that the Assets Recovery Unit claimed to have identified in foreign countries.

The amnesty scheme, which is being finalized and is expected to be announced in the near future, will allow all Pakistanis to declare their un-taxed or hidden wealth by depositing a nominal percentage of their declared wealth. The PTI government, which had set its eye on $200 billion (Rs28,400 billion), is now expecting mere Rs175 billion revenue from its amnesty schemeAlthough, the Assets Recovery Unit has failed to recover even $20 million (what to talk of $200 billion) so far, its probe regarding the identification of undeclared assets would help the government amnesty scheme to document many of the assets/ wealth being identified by the Unit.

Soon after coming into power, the PTI government had established Asset Recovery Unit to retrieve assets hidden overseas. The Unit comprises of officials from the State Bank of Pakistan, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Investigation Agency and intelligence agencies.

In one of his initial press conferences, head of the Unit and PM’s advisor on accountability Barrister Shahzad Akbar had said that members of the ARU had already got details of over 10,000 properties in Dubai and England. He had complained that details of at least half of the 10,000 properties were previously available but no action was taken.

Notices were also issued to hundreds of properties from the list but the Unit so far recovered less than a billion rupee. A few months back, it was reported that Rs530 million, which was illegally sent abroad, was recovered by the government through its Assets Recovery Unit (ARU).

Now the authorities also admit that if it is not impossible then really difficult to recover and bring back the hidden assets identified overseas. Under the international conventions, after a lot of efforts if any overseas hidden wealth is discovered and pursued with the host government, the most Pakistan can get it the payable tax amount.

For the same reasons, the PTI which has been showing its abhorrence in the past against amnesty schemes is now launching one of its own to document the untaxed/ hidden wealth. According to a source following the amnesty scheme, the Assets Recovery Unit if is allowed to continue may focus on cases of politically exposed persons particularly belonging to the opposition parties.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/468338-a-major-u-turn-in-the-offing

$200b na howa, halwa hogya! What were they smoking when they made this absurd statement?

 

[Khafee]

Why don't we fire every civil servant right now? How hard is that?

Just throw top 10~20 bureaucrats in jail. The rest will fall in line.

 

[El Sidd]

Just throw top 10~20 bureaucrats in jail. The rest will fall in line.

did they make the law?

 

[Khafee]

did they make the law?

The English did.

 

[El Sidd]

The English did.

Otherwise i would be speaking farsi.

well urdu is almost persian

 

[1Paki$tani]

Why don't we fire every civil servant right now? How hard is that?

If I am not wrong their service is guaranteed employment and you cannot sack them without code of conduct issues.

That is why when IK became PM the downsizing of PM house meant the employees werd transferred elsewhere and not sacked.

PS. I CAN BE CORRECTED ON THIS.

This is very bad and law has to change. I have come across few people who are living her permanently yet they receive wages from Pakistan.

 

[Khafee]

If I am not wrong their service is guaranteed employment and you cannot sack them without code of conduct issues.

That is why when IK became PM the downsizing of PM house meant the employees werd transferred elsewhere and not sacked.

PS. I CAN BE CORRECTED ON THIS.

This is very bad and law has to change. I have come across few people who are living her permanently yet they receive wages from Pakistan.

In the interest of national security, anything is possible.

 

[ejaz007]

Possibly. The way things are; it is probably better to "let" the system fall apart.

System is already heading towards collapse due to recent appointments.

 

[1Paki$tani]

In the interest of national security, anything is possible.

Not when you have likes of IHC and LHC.

Take the new FBR chairman appointment as an example.

 

[Wa Muhammada]

Unfortunate realities of:
a.) lack of competence (due to deeper issues of recruitment/selection/training, etc.) in the civil service
b.) political interference in an already incompetent civil service

If the FIA, NAB, etc., were kept independent and forensically competent, such massive illegal flight of capital and tax evasion would never have been possible.

IK had an admirable approach but he underestimated the corruption and incompetence of various vested interests in the bureaucracy. Therefore, an amnesty scheme is the only way to bring capital back into the economy till civil service reforms can fix the relevant departments that are supposed to regulate this stuff.

I agree that an amnesty scheme is required because like most average Pakistanis I was not aware of the need to pay Income Tax on my assets & business income.

Previously I lived in a small town in Pakistan and I only pay excise tax and have never been informed/visited by the FBR/income tax officers. And I vouch the same for many medium to small businessmen across our country. It’s only now that this govt has begun to enforce recovery that people have woken up to this reality and are now running around like headless chickens to make sense of this.

I went to my tax advisor and we did the sums, if I pay income tax every year on time it’s not a huge sum at all and I believe we all should pay income tax because it will help Pakistan prosper
ان شاء الله

I’v also been waiting for this amnesty scheme and will avail this opportunity
ان شاء الله

 

[ziaulislam]

Why don't we fire every civil servant right now? How hard is that?

Very hard ...who is going to Collect the 4000b rs than?
It should be done phase wise in 3 years

 

[Enigma SIG]

System is already heading towards collapse due to recent appointments.

You might tend to think it is recent. The wounds inflicted on this country have have festered over decades.

If I am not wrong their service is guaranteed employment and you cannot sack them without code of conduct issues.

That is why when IK became PM the downsizing of PM house meant the employees werd transferred elsewhere and not sacked.

PS. I CAN BE CORRECTED ON THIS.

This is very bad and law has to change. I have come across few people who are living her permanently yet they receive wages from Pakistan.

The law definitely has to change. When the worst action against you is "tabadla"; you are bound to delve into stuff that any sane professional wouldn't even think about. I think chopping the heads of a few corrupt bureaucrats would send the right signals.

 

[KhanBaba2]

How is Imran Khan a thief? Or Assad Umar, or Hafeez Shaikh?

They stole your votes by making impossible promises.

 

[Enigma SIG]

They stole your votes by making impossible promises.

That would mean every democratic party since time immemorial is a thief.
If IK achieves 20% of what he was targeting; he is a success.