SA® replied on Sunday, May 29, 2016 07:57 AM PST
I am amazed how ignorant people are about REMITTANCES and LEGAL WHITE MONEY IN PAKISTAN. I have lived in Saudi Arabia for 10 years and still visit on and off.
99% of people in Saudi don’t have a clue how to handle their money in PAKISTAN. ( legally )
Most of the people in Saudi send money to Pakistan to support their families though WU, Banks or any other channel. These people don’t need any remittance records as the money is spent on necessities.
But Investors who want to invest in Pakistan need to maintain proper Record in Pakistan for their REMITTANCE to be declared " WHITE MONEY "
let me give you few examples where your HARD EARNED HALAL money is considered black in PAKISTAN.
1. You are travelling to Pakistan and greed comes over you. You put 1 lac Riyals in your laptop Bag and bring the money to Pakistan, convert the money through money changers and buy a plot or put in your bank. ( People do this thinking that their money is HALAL so no one will question them ). PAKISTAN CONSIDERS THIS MONEY BLACK.
2. You transfer your money into your XYZ relatives account and you pay from his account.
3. You send Dollars to your USD account in PAKISTAN , Invite money changers in the bank, convert your cash in PKR and deposit back into your account. ( PAKISTAN CONSIDERS THIS BLACK MONEY )
these are just few examples which people do with their money. there are many more.
NOW LETS COME TO THE POINT , HOW CAN YOU DECLARE YOUR MONEY WHITE OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED BY PAKISTAN AND FBR.
1. Open a bank Account in PKR in PAKISTAN. I USE UBL because SABB uses UBL as their remittance partner in PAKISTAN. YOU need to know which bank is in partnership with your Saudi Bank.
2. SIMPLY USE AL RAJHI to transfer your money or use your online SABB account to transfer money to UBL. If you are sending money through SABB to UBL account, the money will be deposited within 3 days with all the details of your transaction. If you use SABB to transfer money into any other bank, it will reach UBL KARACHI and then UBL KARACHI will issue a LOCAL PO which will be deposited into the bank which you have mentioned. ( NO record of remittance will be shown )
Note: Rajhi mostly uses HBL to process remittances.
3. When you receive money in PAKISTAN, You should have TT number or reference number with you, Along with scanned copy of Saudi bank voucher or money changer voucher. Go to your UBL branch and ask them to ISSUE " PRC" against your remittances. Your branch will make an application and you will sign it , they will scan it and send to the concerned department over email. After few days or even weeks with continuous follow ups eventually your PRC will arrive and you can collect it.
THIS PRC IS ONLY THING WHICH IS ACCEPTABLE and FBR ACKNOWLEDGES as FOREIGN REMITTANCES.
I have explained small details about UBL. procedure varies between different banks. BUT Keep in mind you need PRC certificate to legalize your money.
Lastly do not send money in USD in Pakistan. Because if you change USD to PKR from bank itself you will loose lots of money as their exchange rate is very poor ( they make lots of money by converting into PKR ) and the only way to get PRC from bank for USD is if you use banks services. if you withdraw USD and use local money changer , NO one will issue PRC and FBR or the GOVT. of PAKISTAN will not recognize your remittances as legal.
ALL this is for people who are investing in Pakistan. Money which is being used for necessities do not need to go through all this procedure.
ONE LAST THING
Overseas people who want to avoid paying 0.6% WHT on their bank transaction must file their income tax on yearly basis.( HIRE A LAWYER WHO WILL DO ALL THIS ON YOUR BEHALF FOR A VERY SMALL FEE of around 10-15 thousand ) As soon as you file your return you will be automatically updated as " FILER" STATUS and no WHT will be applicable on you when you buy a property, CAR, CASH withdrawals, BANK transfers etc. etc. All the money which you are sending to Pakistan is exempted income. There is no income tax on your foreign income which you are sending to Pakistan. All overseas will declare their income as foreign remittances and declare their assets. You will return a NILL income tax return with all your assets and money LEGAL.
I request all overseas to go through these procedures again and again as i myself have gone through all of this ( I learned it the hard way with no one to guide me) so i want other people to benefit. These are just simple steps with no extra money involved, just some paper work and all your money and assets will be legal.
I am willing to give answers to all of your questions which will help you legalize your money in Pakistan. Please forgive me if I am wrong some where. Whatever I have written is a personal experience and may vary from one individual to another. |