FBR pens letter to UAE, asks to share details of Pakistani Iqama holders

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has once again asked UAE authorities to provide information of Pakistanis having iqama (residential permit) in the UAE, ARY News reported on Monday.

The revenue board, in its letter to the UAE’s Ministry of Finance, stated that such delinquent Pakistan tax resident persons have not only siphoned off funds out of Pakistan but have also effectively circumvented the OECD-sponsored CRS exchange of bank and financial account information.

Pakistan and UAE signed a full scope tax treaty on February 7, 1993, and it came into force on November 30, 1994. The treaty became effective in Pakistan from July 01, 1995, and in the UAE on January 01, 1995.

Under Article 27 of the Treaty both the states are bound to exchange information in case of fiscal fraud and tax evasion.

Special Assistant to PM on Accountability Shehzad Akbar, in October 2018, hinted action against all heavyweights laundering money in by using Iqama (foreign work permit).

Addressing a press conference, Shehzad Akbar said, Rs5.3 billion US dollars had been laundered from Pakistan and more than 5000 fake accounts were used to illegally transfer above $1 billion.

Shedding light on how Iqama facilitates money laundering, Akbar explained that high profile politicians keep foreign work permits to send looted money abroad and the sole reason of holding an Iqama is to conceal the illicit wealth.