Massive numbers of foreign assets declarants under tax amnesty scheme are facing delays (2 to 4 days) in getting Computerized Payment Receipts (CPRs) from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). According to sources, presently, around 700 CPRs are pending in the central bank, raising anxiety among the declarants and tax consultants.
Qamar Abid, spokesman SBP also confirmed that a few hundred CPRs were pending, which he hoped will be issued in next 24 hours; adding that the delay in the issuance of CPRs had no negative impact on the declarants.
"To mitigate the qualms of the declarants and tax consultants, the SBP made it clear that all payments made/remitted to the central bank on or before June 30, 2018 under Foreign Assets (Declaration and Repatriation) Act, 2018, will be accepted as payments against the declaration of foreign assets provided the declarant submits the evidence to SBP that the payment is made on or before 30th June 2018," the spokesman SBP said.
He said declarants after obtaining Payment Slip ID (PSID) through the FBR web portal could remit funds through wire transfer from banks where declarants or their immediate family members were maintaining the bank accounts.
He said after deposit of the cheque with NBP, the declarant shall electronically transmit the copy of cheque, deposit slip, PSID, Form A, etc, to SBP for the issuance of CPR but the central bank would only issue CPR after realization of the cheque proceeds in the SBP account.
Meanwhile, Abdul Qadir Memon, President Pakistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA) said a large number of PTBA members, who submitted required documents for issuance of CPR, had not received the CPR as yet.
He said PTBA had raised the issue with the SBP, suggesting the central bank to generate CPRs within maximum of three hours from the time when email is submitted to the SBP to boost the confidence of declarants.
However, the SBP in its reply stated: "The CPRs are being issued on immediate priority. The CPR is issued after receipt of funds in the SBP account. At times the funds are credited in the SBP account with a lag of 2 to 4 days due to screening of funds in New York," he added.
The President PTBA said number of declarants were facing problems in case foreign banks had imposed restrictions on the withdrawal or wire transfer above US $10,000. Therefore, if any declarant's tax liability is more than US $10,000, he would not be able to make payment through single PSID.
Answering another question, he said a PTBA delegation was going to meet Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akthar on July 2 or 3 and would strongly recommend her to move a summary to the President of Pakistan regarding extension in tax amnesty scheme.