Benami Transactions Bill to tackle tax evasion, money laundering
Islamabad—The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Bill, 2016 will enable the government to tackle with the problem of tax evasion and black money and transactions being carried out in other people’s names. The said bill will also to put an end to benami transactions, and to empower the government to recover such property. A well-placed source at Finance Ministry, Tuesday, told Pakistan Observer that incidence of benami had been causing concerns among tax authorities as well as past practices and experiences had shown that benami transactions had often been resorted to for furthering illegal or questionable objectives, including the evasion of taxes.
The source said that the assets earned through illegal money could be used for tax evasion or something more serious like financing terrorism. Therefore there was a realisation that the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Acts were in operation in other countries of the region including neighbouring country but Pakistan was at least two decades behind in this regard. The source added that government intended to prohibit all persons from entering into such transactions because the sought to ensure, if any person entered into a benami transaction in order to evade tax or avoid payment to creditors, the ultimate beneficial owner and persons who abetted or induced any person to undertake such a transaction, suffered rigorous punishment.
Moreover, the bill seeks to strengthen the law through empowering provisions prohibiting holding property as benarni and restrict the right to recover or transfer property held in benami.
