- ‘The department has collected the data of 16,000 unregistered salaried individuals in Karachi, besides identifying some 2,000 unregistered property owners’
ISLAMABAD: The tax department has acquired the property as well as bank account details of unregistered government servants.
Documents available with Pakistan Today revealed that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) was asked to chalk out a strategy to broaden the tax base. Subsequently, the department identified thousands of unregistered individuals, including government servants and owners of private schools, colleges and tuition centres. The FBR, in its working, identified some 200 unregistered public sector officers.
The department officials told this scribe that these individuals were drawing millions of rupees in salaries and were not paying a single penny in taxes. “These individuals also owned properties in posh sectors.”
They said the department has collected the data of 16,000 unregistered salaried individuals in Karachi, besides identifying some 2,000 unregistered property owners.
Acting upon the instructions of the chief commissioner, the FBR Karachi has also identified hundreds of unregistered schools, colleges and tuition centres in different localities, they added.
Recently, the FBR team confiscated the record of one private school ‘Tameer Waton’ in Abbottabad.
Officials said that the school was involved in tax evasion and the record of the school has been transferred to Islamabad for further investigation.
“The FBR officials have been asked to issue notices to the unregistered individuals and to get the required details from them at the earliest. If the individuals do not provide their details, then the department would be given 45 days to complete its investigation and bring the culprits to justice,” they added.
According to officials, Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a meeting, had asked the FBR chairman to broaden the tax base so that department could meet the revenue target for the current fiscal year.
They said a revenue shortfall of Rs230 billion was registered during the first eight months of the current fiscal year, adding that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was also not happy with the revenue position of Pakistan, asking the government increase the revenue target as well as enhance the tax base.
