When contacted, Khushnood A. Khan, President, Karachi Sales Tax Bar Association (KSTBA) said that the FBR web portal was a main source of information for tax officers, tax consultants and foreign investors to resolve tax queries. He said that several amendments were made in the special procedure of Federal Excise Duty (FED) through Finance Act 2009, but the same were not uploaded on the web, which might raise issues including short payments, non filing and non registration on taxpayers' side and was also creating problems for the recovery of undue liability for taxmen, especially in those cases where the FED was liable to pay under special procedures.
This omission may also cause to mislead foreign investors, he maintained. Khan further said the insurance services of life insurance, health insurance, crop insurance and marine insurance for export were then exempted from tax as per rule 40 of FED but the said services were still taxable as per the FBR website.
He said that all banking services except services of utility collection, umra and hajj, cheque book, cheque return, musharika and modaraba financing were taxable under 40-A of FED rules, but as per the website only 12 services were liable to pay FED, which would raise short payment issues.
KSTBA President said the services related to foreign exchange dealers, companies and cable operators were presently come under tax regime, but online FED section made the said services taxable. "The website is showing 5 percent duty on franchise fee, technical fee and royalty, which is now 10 per cent under rule 43-A. The services of advertisement agents and terminal operators, are now taxable but the said are still exempted from tax on the online module," he added.
To a question, he said there had been no accountability of the millions of dollars spent on Tarp project. He added, "funds, which should have been utilised in right perspective, have been misused to please favourites in the name of hiring consultants, awarding construction contracts, trainings etc. There is a need to get projects' audit done by AGPR covering full scope of the project and its achievement vis-à-vis stated objectives."