State Minister for Finance Waseqa Ayesha Khan on Thursday said there would have been a possibility of keeping the provision for whitening black money in the next budget (for 2024-25 fiscal) if it was there in the budget for the current, outgoing fiscal ((2023-24).
“If this provision is there in the previous budget (current fiscal), there is a possibility of keeping this provision in the next budget as well,” she said.
The State Minister said this while responding to a supplementary question of Sohrab Uddin MP in Parliament, he absence of Finance Minister AH Mahmood Ali.
She said that the budget for the next fiscal year is at the formulation stage and she does not know whether this option of legalising undisclosed money is in the proposed budget till now.
“I cannot say at the moment whether it is in the proposed budget. It is not possible to say at this moment. The budget proposal is still being finalised. If there was an opportunity to legalise undisclosed money in the one budget, there is that possibility in the next budget as well,” she said.
The provision was left out of the budget or the current fiscal.
Currently, the undisclosed money can be legalised by paying extra taxes on top of the regular tax rate.