“The Swiss government has no issue about signing Article 26 as before seeking any information the other country has to lodge a formal complaint and give evidences,” said Dr Ikramul Haq, an expert in international tax laws. Although the revised treaty will provide the FBR with a legal instrument, its successful application will depend on the revenue body’s ability to present its case to the Swiss authorities, say tax experts. Pakistan has similar clauses in domestic tax laws but the FBR has been unable to successfully apply these for the recovery of taxes. Article 165A and 176 of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 allow the FBR online access to bank accounts besides seeking a range of information. Under Article 165A, banks are bound to give online access to its central database containing information about all accountholders. However, the present government has reduced the scope of the article by inserting a clause that if a person files income tax return, banks will not be bound to provide information about his accounts. Even if the person declares no income in the tax return, the bank is not legally bound to share his accounts’ information, according to Haq.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 09:59:03 +0000
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