The Government of Pakistan has taken another big step to document and tax immovable properties held by Pakistanis abroad in Turkey and approached the concerned Turkish Revenue Administration, according to exclusive details available with ProPakistani.
A senior official of the Ministry of Finance told ProPakistani on Monday that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is regularly taking information about immovable properties held by Pakistanis in countries including the UK, USA, Canada, and UAE. Pakistan has now fully focused on Turkey because a number of Pakistanis have purchased immovable properties in Turkey.
Till now, the FBR has not taken action against the undeclared immovable proprieties in Turkey. The tax authorities of Pakistan have approached the Turkish Revenue Administration in this regard. The government has noticed that Pakistanis are purchasing properties in Tukey and mostly undeclared by owners living in Pakistan. The properties held by the resident Pakistanis would be registered and taxed with the imposition of penalties and fines as per the Income Tax Ordinance 2001.
In the past, the FBR had served notices on hundreds of individuals having rental income from expensive properties in the UK. UK tax authorities have shared full details of Pakistanis owning properties and earning rental income with the FBR along with their addresses and telephone numbers.
The FBR has obtained information from the UK Tax authorities with the assistance of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as an exchange of information became operational and now it would start enforcement action.
The FBR announced that the FBR has obtained information in respect of immovable properties owned by Pakistanis in the United Kingdom (UK) with the assistance of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and UK Tax Authorities. Similarly,
Dubai Land Department is also providing details of Pakistani owners of Dubai properties.
Recently, the FBR and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (HMRC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together on capacity-building programs to assist Pakistan in achieving its tax reforms agenda.
FBR and HMRC are partnering to work towards two strategic tax reform objectives: Data utilization and Processes for international tax components and improved institutional capacity to implement strategic plans and reform agenda in areas that include but are not limited to compliance risk management, AML functions, and Information and Data.
FBR is also collaborating with HMRC & OECD under the initiative of Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) for capacity building of FBR officers. Under this initiative, HMRC experts will deliver training to FBR officers in the areas of tax/financial investigations involving tax fraud, money laundering, and prosecution.
