ISLAMABAD  -   The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) yesterday notified rules of Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act 2017 that will enable the government to confiscate all assets and bank accounts kept in name of others in a bid to evade taxes.

The last PML-N government had approved the Benami Act in January 2017 and it took two years to make it operational. This is a major step to plug loopholes to avoid payment of taxes in Pakistan. The enforcement of Benami Act will enable the government to confiscate all assets and bank accounts kept in name of others in a bid to evade taxes.

Under the rules, the government has announced reward for whistleblowers. The amount of reward for detecting and confiscation of Benami property worth Rs2 million or less would be five percent of the price of Benami property. Similarly, the amount of reward would be Rs100,000 plus four percent of the price of Benami property after detection and confiscation of property worth more than Rs2 million or less than Rs5 million. Furthermore, on detecting and confiscation of Benami property worth over Rs5 million, the reward amount would be Rs220,000 plus three percent of the price of the Benami property in excess of Rs5 million.

According to rules, the FBR may by an order assign any commissioner/deputy commissioner/assistant commissioner Inland Revenue to exercise the powers and perform the functions of approving authority under the provisions of the act and these rules. Secretary Revenue Division will forward a panel of suitable officers to the federal government who are qualified for the chairperson and members of the adjudicating authority.

According to rules, when an order of confiscation of property will be made, the Adjudicating Authority will send a copy of the order to the approving authority. The approving authority will forthwith direct the administrator to proceed to take any or all steps. The approving authority will also issue notice to the concerned authority of the federal government or a provincial government or a local body or an authority or any person or officer who is responsible for recording the registration of any property or maintaining its record of ownership, as the case may be, having jurisdiction for the purposes of registration of such immovable property, intimating that the property has been confiscated under the act.

The approving authority will arrange a copy of the notice at some conspicuous part of the immovable property for the benefit of general public mentioning clearly therein English and in vernacular language that the property has been confiscated under the act and vests absolutely in the federal government.

The authority will direct the administrator to proceed to take any or all steps mentioned in this sub-rule. He will forthwith issue a notice to the authority or person having the custody of such movable property informing that the properties have been confiscated under the act. He will sell the property, if the property is liable to speedy and natural decay or the expenses for maintenance are likely to exceed its value with the written approval of concerned adjudicating authority and deposit the sale proceeds in the nearest government treasury or branch of State Bank of Pakistan or federal treasury or any branch of National Bank of Pakistan.

Under the rules, the administrator shall at the time of receiving the confiscated property ensure the proper identification of such property with the reference to its particular mention in the order made under sub section 1 of section 22. The administrator may, with permission of approving authority establish one or more warehouses for safe keeping of attached and confiscated movable properties.

An appeal to the Federal Appellate Tribunal under sub section 1 of section 44 shall be filed in the form as specified in the part 3 of the first schedule to these rules. The form under sub rule (1) shall set forth concisely and under district head the ground of objections to the other appealed against and such grounds shall be numbered consecutively and shall specify the address of service at which notice or other proposes of Federal Appellate Tribunal may be served on the appellant and the date on which the order appealed against was served on the appellant.