The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) released SRO 101(I)/2017 on 17 February 2017, which proposes draft amendments to the Income Tax Rules 2002 to implement the Common Reporting Standard for financial institutions for the automatic exchange of information with OECD member countries.
Based on the draft amendments, financial institutions will have to report on certain accounts as prescribed. The FBR is authorised to:
- obtain information from financial institutions on non-residents with bank accounts in Pakistan;
- impose penalties under the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 on non-residents for failure to provide requested details to banks;
- provide information of non-residents with bank accounts opened between 1 July 2017 and 31 December 2017 to other OECD members by September 2018; and
- comply with the relevant conditions and principles for the exchange of information under the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.
The proposed draft amendments will be taken into consideration by the FBR after 15 days of its publication in the Official Gazette. Any objection or suggestion received before the expiry of the aforementioned period will be considered by the FBR. The draft amendment is available on the web portal of the FBR.
