ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will send tax notices to 600-700 people receiving rental income from owning expensive properties in the UK after failing to declare these assets under the tax amnesty scheme.
FBR received the data from their counterparts in the United Kingdom (UK), which includes details of Pakistani’s owning properties and earning rental incomes alongside their telephone numbers and addresses, reported The News.
The information has been obtained under an agreement signed with the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as the exchange of information portal became live.
This would allow the FBR to find tax evaders and fine them in a big manner.
Officials from the tax regulator said since the incoming PTI government is targeting a rise in tax collection from Rs4 trillion to Rs8 trillion hence preparations were being made to move ahead with the policy of name and shame for tax evaders.
However, they added it would be contingent on the incoming PTI government how much independence does it grant to the tax collection machinery.
And every relevant Large Taxpayers Units (LTUs) and Regional Taxpayers Offices (RTOs) have been issued directives to dispatch tax notices to 600-700 individuals living in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi and other parts of Pakistan and unearth whether they were tax filers or not.
Sources said, in case they were found to be non-filers, then appropriate action would be taken against them under the law.
Also, the official shared the FBR had established a centralized system to track progress on the tax notices sent in order to eliminate an element of harassment.
The official said information of hundreds of Pakistani nationals who own immovable properties in the UK has been received.
As per the confidentiality clauses, the FBR isn’t permitted to share the exact number and details retrieved from the UK tax authorities under the OECD agreement.
The sources added in case the confidentiality clause was broken, then the tax regulator would be unable to receive any information in the future, hence they have ensured foolproof arrangements to safeguard against any leaks.
And the FBR has setup a standardized software for fetching the first number of thousands of cases of Pakistani’s via automatic exchange portal from the OECD to retrieve financial data of assets and bank accounts starting September 1st, 2018.
