FBR confronts hurdles in proceeding against tax evaders
ISLAMABAD: The criminal involvement of senior officials of Large Taxpayers’ Unit (LTU) Lahore in tax evasion case has entangled the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in a perplex situation to proceed forward the case against the tax evaders.
In the ending of last month suspended three Inland Revenue service officers suspended Naeem Hassan, (IRS/BS-18) presently posted as Deputy Commissioner, Regional Tax Office-II, Lahore, and Inland Revenue Inspector Sehgal Hussain, posted at RTO-II Lahore, and Upper Division Clerk Nasir Ali Kamran – under Efficiency & Discipline Rules, 1973, for the period of three months with immediate effect.
Director Intelligence and Investigation (I &I) Headquarters Bashirullah and concerned RTO Waqar Ahmad are chalking out a strategy to proceed against the companies involved in the said tax evasion scam” a well placed source told this scribe here on Friday adding that they were also brooding on possibilities to seek legal opinion from the Law Department to take the legal procedures against the tax evaders.
FBR is facing problems in proving the income tax evasion of Rs 50 to 100 million by the said companies due to the crime committed by the above said persons who accepted declaration of income tax returns submitted by these companies in back dates.
The tax evading companies are adopting the stance before the court that they had not committed any crime because they filed their income tax returns well in time and they produce their documents stamped by these officials before the court.
In such a situation, FBR is facing serious hurdles to move ahead to take the criminals to task because these parties had committed wealth tax evasion to the tune of over Rs 500 million because they neither declared accurate value of their wealth nor deposited tax as per ratio of correct value.
Gujaranwala renowned manufacturing firm knotted a liaison with the biggest land developer in private sector of the Pakistan and inflicted loss of billions to national exchequer by committing income and withholding tax evasion. The firm purchased a land in Lahore and then sold it to the biggest land developer in private sector by declaring the value of land approximately ten times lesser than the market price. This very act inflicted damage of billions of rupees to the national kitty.
FBR in a major crackdown discovered this scam and established involvement of three above said higher officials of LTU Lahore in the scam. Moreover, three inspectors of grade 16 have also been suspended for approving their income tax declarations in back dates.
