Pakistani expatriates want their money to be tax-free back home

Muscat: Pakistani expats in Oman feel that the earnings they accumulate overseas should be tax-free in their country.
Their demands include adequate educational institutions and quotas in higher educational institutions for their children, more jobs at home, a housing scheme, and the waiving of customs duties to allow them to bring their belongings home.
These demands have been articulated by expats from the South Asian country in the past, but Pakistan’s would-be Prime Minister Imran Khan’s pledge to bring overseas Pakistanis home in his election victory speech has raised hopes.
Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) won 116 seats in the country’s parliament, after 270 were counted. Khan’s party requires 172 to gain a simple majority, with the total number of seats in parliament totalling 342 after the reserved seats for minorities and women are counted.
In his victory speech, Imran Khan referred to overseas Pakistanis as assets.
“One of our biggest advantages are the overseas Pakistanis,” proclaimed Khan.
“We will invite them back to the country. We will do this by fixing the governance of the country and by giving them a chance to invest here.”
“To date, overseas Pakistanis have not invested in the country to the extent that they should have,” he added.
“The biggest reason for this is corruption, which has ruined institutions. We will eliminate corruption to create an investment-friendly environment, God willing.”
Pakistan Social Club (PSC) general secretary Mohammad Zaeem expressed his enthusiasm at Khan’s inclusion of overseas Pakistanis in his address to the nation. He added that expats from Oman would consider coming back to Pakistan if friendly policies were implemented.
“Expats would be willing to come back, but for that, things have to be made easier by the government,” explained Zaeem. “Firstly, the money they’ve earned overseas should be made tax-free in Pakistan. This would be an incentive and people would be more inclined to come back and invest that money in Pakistan.”
Zaeem added that it wasn’t just a question of money, but a social and educational issue as well.
“I know a number of Pakistani families that were forced to live apart because their children had to go back home for higher education,” he said.
“For example, you may want your daughter to get a higher education back home as sending her to college here might not be feasible. Sometimes, you might also send your wife to go live with your daughter.”
“If they provide the children of overseas Pakistanis adequate educational institutions with the correct curriculum in keeping with Pakistani schools here, in addition to proper quotas in higher educational institutions, then that would make moving back home a serious option,” he said.
“We should also be allowed to transport our belongings back to Pakistan without exorbitant customs duties,” added Zaeem. “Preference should be given to really experienced overseas Pakistanis in certain sectors. A complete overhaul of the Overseas Pakistani Foundation is also necessary.”
Pakistani expat and businessman Aftab Geelani said housing schemes for overseas Pakistanis would also help.