ISLAMABAD: The Benami Adjudicating Authority has asked Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman to provide essential support to Anti-Benami Regime.
A letter is available with this scribe that Benami Adjudicating Authority Chairperson Jamil Ahmad in his letter asked FBR Chairman Shabbar Zaidi for office space, budget and HR support to the Benami Zones notified by FBR.
The letter further state that ‘Needless to reiterate that FBR is sponsoring department for establishment of antibenami regime under Benami Transactions (Prohibition ) Act, 20 17 and functioning of Benami Authorities hinges upon the pro-active support and facilita1ion by the FBR’.
The chairperson revealed that the Benami authority feels handicapped in functioning and despite the importance of their assignment, very little has been done on ground to accomplish the objectives of the Act. They are continuously raising the demand for requisite essential support staff, proper offices/seating space, and essential logistics since their establishment a month ago.
In view of above, it is requested that if deemed appropriate, the Chairman FBR may convene a meeting of zonal authorities and Adjudicating Authority for discussion on the immediate support needed for effective functioning of anti-benami regime.
Major talking points for such meeting include office space, human resource, transport, budget, organizational linkages, mechanism for smooth flow of relevant information and IT enablement. Your kind early attention to above submissions will be highly appreciated.
It is pertinent to mention here that tax department issued a circular on July 31, in which they talked about the role and functions of anti-benami rules and jurisdiction. Officials said that the anti-benami regime has initiated around 100 cases worth billions of rupee against and now they are bound to file case in adjudicating authority within 60 days.
