The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has obtained details of bank accounts owned by Pakistani nationals in 26 countries and will be going after them for tax evasion, according to a TV report.
As per the report, the FBR is making efforts to uncover people who have undeclared assets abroad. It could even have their offshore accounts frozen. Its jurisdiction has been extended to recover tax from these people and it will be taxing these accounts, the report added.
On January 16, FBR officials confirmed that 50,000 foreign bank accounts have been traced that are being held by Pakistanis in Spain, Italy, France, Germany and other countries.
On October 14, PM’s Special Assistant on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said that no international asset tracing cases were lodged the past 15 years.
Coordination with overseas law enforcement agencies will be improved to see where the money goes, Akbar had told a press conference. The lists of accounts from these 26 countries are part of this same drive to ‘bring back the country’s looted wealth’ as the PTI calls it.
