FBR spins into action over news of Pakistanis illegally owning UAE real estate
February 12, 2018
ISLAMABAD: The country's tax authorities have spun into action after Geo News revealed that over 7,000 wealthy Pakistanis have illegally bought properties in the United Arab Emirates worth an estimated Rs1.1 trillion, evading tax in their own country and causing massive losses to the exchequer.
In a letter, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) citing Geo News' programme 'Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath' has requested this correspondent to provide details of "Pakistani high net worth individuals who have made investments in UAE real estate."
Geo News broke the story on February 6, 2018, in which it reported that the Pakistani individuals have bought luxury residential villas, flats, and estates in 12 renowned localities in the Emirati capital.
The majority of these individuals have not mentioned these properties in their annual returns and were said to be moving their assets out of the country to avoid being caught in the event of a serious crackdown in Pakistan on this unaccounted for money.
The letter said that the revenue body intends to "initiate appropriate proceedings against the individuals, who made these investments, especially if they did not declare these investments in their tax declarations...and resultantly caused loss to the national exchequer."
The FBR requested the correspondent to share these details with the office by February 12.
According to confidential documents available with Geo News, these super-rich Pakistanis bought luxury residential villas, flats, and estates in 12 renowned localities in the Emirati capital.
The documents contain particulars of some 34,000 rich families from 118 countries in all.
