Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday collected around 3 to 5 percent missing information about the tax details of the ruling Sharif family in response to questions asked by joint investigation team (JIT) probing their offshore assets. "The FBR had already submitted about 95 per cent tax details of the ruling Sharif family to the JIT, while the remaining 3 to 5 per cent missing information has been collected," it was learnt.

According to FBR officials, the Bureau has gathered the required tax information from Lahore office and a detailed reply will be furnished to JIT by Friday (today) morning. They argued that there were some questions which the FBR could not reply on behalf of others. For instance, how the FBR could reply why any certain individual did not file its wealth statement. They could only inform the JIT whether or not anyone filed wealth statement in any specific year.

Tax laws in any part of the world and especially in case of Pakistan are quite complex so it will be quite difficult to understand their relevant provisions and amendments with the passage of time. Even reading simple balance sheet of any company is not so simple, therefore, finding out wrongdoings on the basis of tax records of the last 30 to 40 years might indicate distortions but obtaining undeniable evidence might prove a far cry.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017