FBR Uncovers Rs. 100 Billion in Tax Evasion in 4 Months - Android

Pakistan’s corporate sector has been involved in tax evasion and avoidance of Rs. 100 billion during the last four months,… Read More

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Pakistan’s corporate sector has been involved in tax evasion and avoidance of Rs. 100 billion during the last four months, reported a local newspaper.

Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) Karachi, the biggest revenue collecting arm of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), unearthed Rs. 100 billion worth of tax fraud between July to October in the current fiscal year, the officials told a news conference.

The report said that in the ongoing audit and examination, the unit detected tax avoidance/evasion by around 12 companies. They didn’t reveal the names of these companies.

Inland Revenue commissioners Zulfiqar Memon and Girdhari Mal announced this while sharing information about the performance of the unit on the instructions of the FBR Chairman Shabbar Zaidi.

According to the report, Mal said that one of these cases involved tax concealment of a whopping Rs. 23 billion. Notices have been issued to the companies for recovering the taxes, he said.

The commissioner said that LTU posted a 16% growth in revenue collection during the first four months of (July – October) 2019/20. He attributed the growth to reforms and initiatives taken by the government.

LTU Karachi released Rs. 21 billion as sales tax refunds during the period under review after the change in sales tax regime effective from July 1, 2019, stated the report.

Memon said that the law of information sharing from banks to tax authorities was introduced in 2013, however, the law has been given a stay order by the courts. FBR is unable to receive information with the exception of specific/identified cases from banks, he added. Recently a court advised the FBR and Pakistan Banks’ Association to resolve the issue.

LTU Karachi has also identified around 100,000 individuals who have commercial gas connections but don’t have mandatory sales tax registration.

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