ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is completing its homework to probe the issue of the Panama Papers, Chairman FBR Nisar Muhammad Khan told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) here Wednesday. The PAC met here with the Leader of the Opposition Khursheed Ahmed Shah in the chair. To a question raised by PAC member Shafqat Mahmood, Nisar Muhammad said that FBR was looking into the names pointed out in Panama Papers and promised action would be taken as per the law. The Chairman FBR informed the committee that the FBR would investigate if it noticed any tax evasion, adding that it had opened cases from as long as five years ago. Nisar Muhammad said that the FBR was suggesting that the federal government amend laws which limit its powers in this regard. Khursheed Shah asked the Chairman FBR about the tax being deducted on mobile cards and inquired about its onward deposit to the exchequer. Nisar Muhammad informed the PAC that 32 percent tax levied on the mobile cards included 18.5 percent direct tax and 14 percent withholding tax. The chairman said the major share of these is transferred to provinces while the federal government retains the share of Federal Capital, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and FATA. “This year, for the first time, the government has introduced a law stipulating that the telecom companies will conduct forensic audit,” he added. He said that federal and provincial governments had no mechanisms to conduct forensic audits but they would be introduced during this financial year. Nisar Muhammad said that he recently discussed the issue with Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). He said the FBR has brought into tax net the services being provided by mobile phone operators. Sheikh Rohale Asghar suggested that mobile phone companies should obtain permission from the FBR before issuing mobile phone cards. Shafqat Mahmood inquired about the possibility of immediate intimation to FBR about the activation of each mobile card. This would, he argued help making the system more transparent. Regarding an audit objection pertaining to the Capital Development Authority (CDA), a CDA member assured the committee that the authority would cancel the fictitious allotments of 19 plots by June 3. The member said that ownership of any plot would be handed over to the owner after the payment of the whole amount. Regarding the issue of a multistory building on the Constitutional Avenue, Khursheed Shah said that the PAC will lodge a First Information Report (FIR) against the CDA Board Members who rescheduled and handed over possession on 15 percent down-payment of the said building.