In response to article, Fudging & fraudulence published in Daily Times on October 1, 2017], a clarification, issued by Ministry of Finance, which was published on October 8, 2017. In the article historical data with evidence was presented to show how Shaukat Aziz and Daniyal Aziz accused the sitting Finance Minister of figure fudging. He till today has not filed any case of defamation against them. Daniyal Aziz is now part of Cabinet of which Dar is also a member! In the article alleged fudging of figures and fiscal data during the era of Musharraf-Shaukat and Pakistan People Party (2008-2013) was also highlighted. It was not Ishaq Dar specific or targeted article. It was to show how our successive governments were manipulating data to show rosy picture at fiscal front. The spokesperson of Ministry of Finance even did not bother to look at the references and links of stories quoted in the article that alleged withholding of refunds personally at the orders of Finance Minister and how he twisted the arm of Federal Tax Ombudsman and Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to disown the report posted on website. In the article, Muhammad Zubair, Governor of Sindh was quoted allegedly accusing Ishaq Dar of cheating ousted Prime Minister-the clarification is totally silent about it. Governor specifically said that “businessmen are facing hardships due to long pending tax refunds”. If there is no issue of refunds as portrayed in the clarification, Governor Zubair should be asked to withdraw or clarify his statement. Spokesperson should ask the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) to issue a Press note that businessmen have no issue of pending refunds with FBR. In the clarification, the spokesperson took much pain to prove that FBR has issued more refunds than earlier years. This is not the issue. The issue is why all the outstanding refunds are not paid. Law does not allow withholding of refunds. Refunds should be issued as per time limit provided in statutes and not according to schedule of payment decided by Finance Minister of anybody else. He is not above law of the land. Who has given authority to Finance Minister or Chairman FBR to announce the schedule of payment of refunds, mentioned in the clarification as under? “It was announced that refund payment orders issued up to April 30, 2017, shall be paid in two stages, i.e. by July15, 2017 and August14, 2017, in respect of RPOs up to Rs. 1 million and above Rs 1 million, respectively. Total refund amounting to Rs 26,338 million on account of sales tax has been paid in the current financial year against 10,579 cases of exporters as well as non-exporters. Overall in the CFY 2017-18, a refund of Rs 41 billion has been paid against Rs 18 billion in PFY 2016-17 recording a substantial growth of around 120 percent”. The reality is that Ishaq Dar admitted before National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Privatisation on November 26, 2015 that quantum of refunds payable was over Rs. 200 billion. Spokesperson before issuance of clarification should have seen the record of Parliament. It was own confession of Ishaq Dar and this time not under duress!! In the past, the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Chairmen FBR have been lying before the Standing Committees of Senate and National Assembly about quantum of refunds due. On May 13, 2014, the then chairman FBR claimed that “only Rs97 billion were payable as refunds”. On November 26, 2015, Ishaq Dar and new chairman admitted that the actual figure was Rs. 200 billion. The last claim in the clarification that “no figure on account of statistical discrepancy has been included, printed and reported in the budget documents” is contrary to the facts as per following story [‘Government shows Rs.212b statistical error to cut budget deficit’, The Express Tribune, September 8, 2016]: In an apparent attempt to conceal the worsening fiscal position, the government has declared a spending of Rs212 billion as a statistical discrepancy aimed at nullifying the impact of lower-than-targeted revenue collection and excessive current expenditures. According to a summary of fiscal operations for financial year 2015-16 that the Ministry of Finance released on Wednesday, there was a statistical discrepancy of Rs212.1 billion in budgetary books. Statistical discrepancy means revenues and expenditures whose source and purposes are not known for the time being. Receipts from the United States and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell short of targets whereas the government cut its development budget by Rs107 billion to make up for the revenue shortfall. There is a clear indication that the government has deliberately declared the statistical discrepancy. In table one of fiscal operations, total expenditures of federal and provincial governments were Rs5.8 trillion. But in table three, the expenses were above Rs6 trillion in 2015-16 that ended on June 30. It is for the second time that the discrepancy has swelled to that extent. Earlier, in 2013-14, it stood at Rs215 billion after $1.5 billion, declared as a gift from Saudi Arabia, was placed under this head. During its first three years in power, the PML-N government has booked Rs605 billion as statistical discrepancy, five times more than the statistical errors of Rs117 billion shown in last three years of the PPP government. Can spokesperson of Ministry of Finance tell the nation about above facts and figures? If the report was false what action did the Ministry took against it? The article, fudging & fraudulence, was based on published reports and documents. In the clarification, no rebuttal is made in respect of these reports and documents. The spokesperson may better take up the matter with Governor Muhammad Zubair who openly accused Ishaq Dar of not only keeping Nawaz Sharif in dark about refunds but also painting before him wrong picture of economy. The issue of non-payment of refunds and taking advances for showing higher revenue collection should be probed by Public Accounts Committee with the help of an audit firm of international repute. It is high time that this process should start immediately. The spokespersons of Ministry of Finance and FBR should come forward and offer their accounts for audit. It will be in their own interest to prove what they have claimed in clarification issued to this newspaper. The writer, Advocate Supreme Court is Adjunct Faculty at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Published in Daily Times, October 11th 2017.