The Federal Government is considering expanding the scheme by three to six months, given the success of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s tax amnesty scheme for the construction industry. It was announced that the PM’s office ordered the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to prepare a draft presidential order to further expand the tax amnesty scheme. The Federal Revenue Board was directed by the PM’s Office to prepare a draft presidential order to further expand the tax amnesty scheme. At the moment, the sources said the government was considering either giving a three or six-month extension on the date to use the scheme. The final decision, however, will depend on whether the plan is also approved by the International Monetary Fund. The system will expire on December 31, 2020, as per the deadline. The authorities have registered over 350 projects to facilitate construction activities, with an estimated cost of Rs140 billion under the scheme.

The prime minister announced the second tax amnesty scheme for his country, enabling people to invest in the construction sector without exposing the source of revenue. The construction sector is the prime minister’s flagship project and he is banking on its revival in order to increase economic growth. Even before the announcement of the scheme, the scheme was also offered for projects under construction. The scheme was also offered on projects that were under construction even before the announcement of the scheme. The government will have to amend the Income Tax Ordinance to extend the scheme, either through promulgating an ordinance or through a regular Finance Bill. Initially, the PTI government limited the scope of its second amnesty scheme to ten months and the deadline is going to expire on Thursday. The immunity from declaring the source of income is available largely to builders and developers of the housing societies and projects only.