FBR seeks info of account holders having deposits above Rs0.5m

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has acquired from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) information about bank account holders having deposits above Rs0.5 million, a private media outlet reported on Tuesday.

The details of account holders would be obtained for the purpose of broadening the tax base.

The exercise started after a letter was received by the FBR from the Prime Minister's Office. Prime Minister Imran Khan had expressed concerns over narrow taxation base, low tax-to-GDP ratio and systematic aberrations in the taxation system. He desired that concerted efforts should be carried out in order to increase the tax base.

In this regard, an Inland Revenue member issued directives to all the chief commissioners and Broadening of Tax Base director general for taking appropriate measures.

The officials were directed that the data of bank account holders above the threshold of Rs500,000 should be examined with the assistance of the SBP. They were also told that the data of all industrial and commercial power connections should be obtained from distribution companies (DISCOs) to ensure filing of tax returns by all concerned.

"Information about all owner/tenants living in houses of two kanals or more should be obtained, while information about people owning luxury vehicles of 2,400CC and above should be scrutinised objectively," it was informed.

The officials were also directed to analyse the information about frequent foreign travellers.

The tax offices were directed that in addition to the above, existing baseline data of all the above areas/indicators along with the targets set by field formations for the tax year 2019/2020 need to be shared by June 11, 2019 as directed by the prime minister.

The prime minister will review the performance of FBR in the context of the broadening and widening tax base on a monthly basis.