Govt Launches Amnesty to Bring Dollars Into the Country

In a major measure to encourage the inflow of foreign currency, the federal government has decided to allow people to bring in up to $100,000 from abroad without disclosing the source of income. According to the budget document, the enhancement of the monetary limit of foreign remittance remitted from outside Pakistan from Rs. 5 million to rupee equivalent of $100,000 for the purpose of section 111(4) which places a bar on asking nature and source of unexplained income/assets has been proposed. Presently, authorities cannot ask for a source of income if the remitted amount does not exceed Rs. 5 million per tax year. The proposed amendment to Section 111 (4) of the Income Tax Ordinance would essentially replace Rs. 5 million with $100,000 or ~Rs. 29 million, which is a huge leap. It is pertinent to mention here that a few years ago, the government reduced the limit from Rs. 10 million to the present Rs. 5 million to reduce the chances of converting black money into white money.