Member Committee Pervaiz Malik revealed that an industrial group of Faisalabad is a defaulter of Rs 12-13 billion on account of taxes. Audit officials told the committee that 22 cases of Inland Revenue Department of FBR are pending in various courts, worth Rs 26.37 billion, on account of tax evasion/defaulters. According to audit report, the FBR has so far got verified Rs 20 billion tax collections details from various defaulters.
Briefing the committee, FBR Chairman Dr Muhammad Irshad said that overall Rs 300 billion recovery cases are pending in different courts and the Board is unable to take any action against the defaulters due to stay orders. Irshad said that FBR is facing immense problems due to prolonged stay orders in recovery cases and has sought the Parliament''s support and legislation in this regard, adding that FBR has no powers to block CNICs and passports of tax defaulters.
He said that only National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) has the power to block CNIC of any person. He also said that FBR is taking help from Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), NADRA and other agencies to recover tax money from defaulters. The PAC directed FBR not only to block CNICs but also passports of those people who are not paying due taxes.
The FBR was further directed to take up the issue with Interior Ministry and proper process should be started in the matter. The FBR chairman said recovery process has already been expedited and steps are being taken to pursue cases in light of PAC direction. He said high courts and others courts are requested to constitute special benches to hear the cases. He said the FBR has prepared software to improve and monitor the tax collections and tax recovery will increase after its installation.
The PAC directed the chairman FBR to ensure holding of departmental audit committee (DAC) meetings in time and take stern action against responsible officials for their failure to recover public money. Irshad said earlier there was no legal wing in FBR, therefore, it failed to get the services of competent lawyers but now a full-fledged legal wing is working in FBR and the entity has hired best available lawyers to pursue pending court cases and vacate stay orders.
Mehmood Khan Achakzai was of the view that FBR has been unable to recover the amount during the last five years. He said the audit report reflects that no action has been taken against any official for his failure. The chairman FBR said an amount of Rs 25 billion has been recovered during the last two months and overall recovery stands at 94 per cent.
He said FBR took assistance of various organisations including NADRA, SECP, etc, for recovery but the tax collector could not block CNIC of any citizen. However, he said blocking of CNIC would help a lot in recovery of public money. The committee was attended by parliamentarians including Chaudhary Tanvir Khan, Kazim Ali Shah, Dr Azra Fazal, Shahida Akhtar Ali, Pervaiz Malik, Mehmood Khan Ackhazai, Raja Javeed Akhlas, Junaid Anwar Chauhary, Sheikh Rohail Asghar, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, Dr Darshan, Rana Muhammad Afzal, Arshad Khan Laghari and officials of FBR and audit department.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017