The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) released a draught of rules on Wednesday that would require passengers leaving the country to report cash over $5,000. By putting out SRO 1751(I)/2022 on September 20, 2022, the FBR released a draught change to the Baggage Rules of 2006.
The group in charge of collecting taxes said that the proposed rules had been made public so that everyone who might be affected could find out about them. They also said that objections or suggestions should be sent to the board within seven days of the proposed changes.
According to the change, a person leaving the country with accompanied baggage who has more than $5,000 in foreign currency or its equivalent, any other item that is banned or restricted, or any other item that needs to be declared to Customs, must file a declaration before or on departure, either electronically in the WeBOC or by hand.
Also, an arriving passenger must file a declaration if they have more than $10,000 in foreign currency or its equivalent, any item that is banned or restricted, or any other item that needs to be declared to customs.
Earlier, on September 11, 2022, the FBR issued a clarification saying that some parts of the press had given the wrong impression that Pakistan had recently started requiring passengers coming into Pakistan to declare their currency. This is not true. Contrary to what some of the press has said, the State Bank of Pakistan issued notification no. F.E.1/2012-SB on June 16, 2012, making it mandatory for passengers entering Pakistan to bring cash or other forms of payment. This was more than 10 years ago. On July 1, 2012, this rule went into effect.
After that, Pakistan Customs also made a “Customs Declaration Form for Passengers,” which was notified vide SRO 689(I)/2019 dated 29th June, 2019. This was done so that gold jewellery, precious stones, and other prohibited or restricted goods could be declared. These rules apply to both passengers coming in and passengers going out.
These rules for declaring are in line with international standards and the best practices that most countries around the world have adopted. Passengers can either make the declaration by hand at the customs counter or electronically through the Customs System. Pakistan Customs has been working with the Civil Aviation Authority, airlines, and immigration authorities to improve its outreach to both departing and arriving international passengers. This is to make international passengers more aware of the rules. Because of this, compliance has been steadily going up.
FBR has also said again that the currency declaration system for all international travellers has been in place for more than a decade and was not put in place recently because of FATF review requirements.
