Federal Board of Revenue is set to investigate 24,000 Pakistanis who purchased dollars in bulk in 2017-18. FBR stated that they are currently examining the tax records of these people before investigating them.
According to FBR, 9880, people are based in Lahore. The list of these people has been sent to the Regional Tax Office in Lahore.
The regional office will issue notifications to these people. FBR will ask them about their source of income through which they bought large sums of foreign currencies.
The manufacturing policy is being finalized by the Commerce Minister Razzak Dawood in collaboration with the Engineering Development Board
The source added that many of them had withdrawn money from their bank accounts to avoid withholding tax and invested it in dollars, pounds, euros, and gold.
The government had initiated the crackdown last year when Asad Umar was the finance minister, in collaboration with the State Bank of Pakistan.
It was said that massive dollar hoarding had plunged the value of rupee against the dollar.
Even money exchange companies were raided across the country to investigate the artificial crisis of dollar and Hawala Hundi in the country.
Read more: Government gearing up to approve sweeping reforms in FBR
While, FBR is bracing up to go after speculators in the foreign currency market they announced an incentive for mobile phone users in Pakistan, last week.
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is mulling to cut the regulatory duties on the imported phones by 50%, a move purely taken to provide relief to the common man and thrive digitization process in Pakistan, asserted Federal Board of Revenue.
FBR to Go After 24,000 People Who Bought Dollars in Bulk https://t.co/YHJpanS6wH via @@ProPakistaniPK
— #ghulammehdiH (@GhulammehdiH) January 9, 2020
Ministry of Finance is optimistic that a reduction in regulatory duties will not cast a significant impact on the overall collection since lower prices will encourage the dealers to import a higher number of phones.
The reduction in regulatory duties will be a disincentive for local assembly and businesses who are in the advanced stages of setting up the local mobile phone assembly plants in the country.
Read more: Import Duties cut by 86% on phones: Smartphones expected to get Cheaper
The manufacturing policy is being finalized by the Commerce Minister Razzak Dawood in collaboration with the Engineering Development Board.
The assembly of mobile phones is a potential market moved out of China, laying opportunities for other countries to attract investment in this sector.