Hyderabad (Staff Report): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Friday rejected the government’s new amnesty scheme, terming it a brazen attempt by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to save the criminals.
While addressing a news conference, Khan said the only purpose of the move is to help protect the 'black money' of politicians in the ruling party.
“The questionable intent of the scheme was reflected in the deliberate confusion by the prime minister's verbal reference to the "scheme not being applicable to 'politically exposed persons' while the doc [doucment] being circulated refers to 'holders of public office and public servants',” the PTI chief said in a tweet.
“Why would PM seek to do this just 45 days before government term ends? And why just two weeks before budget? This is a tax on honest people – a slap on the face of honest taxpayers,” khan said in another tweet.
The amnesty scheme, announced by Abbasi on Thursday, entails a three-month window for wealthy Pakistanis to whiten their hidden local and foreign assets at nominal rates from two per cent to five per cent. It also aims to increase the existing narrow tax base through incentives and tax cuts.
The scheme will now be implemented through a presidential ordinance that the government plans to issue before Sunday. It will then take its approval from the cabinet through circulation, said a government official.