Daily Times

Chief Commissioner Inland Revenue Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Sargodha Region Dr Faheem Muhammad on Wednesday chaired a meeting, attended by the stone-crushing units owners at his office, and directed them for expediting the process of paying their taxes.

He said that stone-crushing unit owners were not paying taxes and they were not getting registered their business with the government departments and agencies concerned. He warned that ample time had been given to them for tax payments, and soon stern action would be launched against those not fulfilling the legal requirements for running their units.

He said that stone-crushing was being carried out at Pul 111, Sargodha, and being supplied to all parts of the country for its good quality. “Unfortunately, this sector has zero contribution in terms of taxes, despite massive sale and huge earnings, but some highly influential persons are involved in this sector who are major obstacle to implementation of proper taxation because of their vested Interests,” he said.

The chief commissioner inland said that according to safe estimates, the quantum of taxation from this sector is approximately Rs 5 billion annually. He said that in the past, efforts were made by the tax authorities to enforce tax and prevent tax evasion from this sector. “Recently, under the directions of federal government, a comprehensive plan of action was devised to bring the sector into the tax net in the best interests of the country,” Faheem Muhammad added. He said that a team was selected to monitor the production of the sector round-the-clock under Section 40 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, and it was expected that credible information being collected from the area would go a long way in proper taxation of the sector. The exercise is set to be completed by the end of May, he added.