Daily Times

KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has almost completed investigations into cases of tax evasions by high net worthy individuals, Daily Times has learnt.

“All regional directors of the Inland Revenue have been asked to finalise income and sales tax audit of selected cases of high net worth individuals’ cases’, FBR’s internal sources confirmed.

Sources said that the bureau had issued directives to all regional directors of the investigation wings in Peshawar, Islamabad, Faisalbad, Lahore, Multan, Hyderabad and Karachi, advising them to finalise the income and sales tax audit of selected cases of high net worth individuals’ who are allegedly defaulters of billions of rupees in taxes by concealing their actual annual incomes in their tax returns.

In this regard, FBR Head Quarters Director Zafar Iqbal Khan has directed all directorates of FBR investigation wings to furnish performance review of audit regarding selected high net worth individuals’ cases while the questionnaire has been dispatched to all directors concerned.

“Subsequent to the audit in selected cases of high net worth individuals, the FBR authorities will take necessary action which may include lodging of FIRs against them,” sources said.

Earlier this year, the FBR while launching an investigation into matter of tax evasions by high net worth individuals had advised all directors of the investigation wings to furnish updated information of tax evasions by high net worth individuals including doctors, sportsmen, fashion designers, owners of luxury vehicles, professionals, politicians, frequent travellers, and others.

As part of its ongoing campaign targeting high net-worth individuals, sources said that the FBR has selected famous TV celebrities for audit including Humayun Saeed, Fahad Salahuddin, also known as Fahad Mustafa, Mehwish Hayat, Faisal Qureshi and Neelam Khan dubbed as Neelam Munir.

Meanwhile, the FBR’s intelligence and investigation directorate general of Karachi had probed into financial matters of eight large companies including Trade Key Pvt Ltd, Danish Motors, Jan Japan, Salman Agencies, Tufail Enterprises, Karim Ghee and Oil Mills Pvt limited, Novelty Gift Centre and Adamjee Pharma Services. However, some of said companies took the matter to courts.

The apex tax authority selects audit cases every year. The authority assigns the income tax audit task to a concerned field office under section 214c and sales tax audit under section 72b.

For each tax year, cases for audit are selected in accordance with the predetermined percentage through a balloting process, based only on the national tax number or computerised national identity cards of the taxpayers.

Through audit, the government checks whether or not a registered person/taxpayer has correctly determined the tax liability, deposited due tax to national exchequer and is making adjustments of input tax and others as per the legal entitlement.