Prime Minister Imran Khan has stressed the need to introduce a Track & Trace System to avoid massive tax evasion in major sectors such as sugar, cement, fertilizers and tobacco.
Chairing a meeting of the federal cabinet on Tuesday, he pointed out that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for the last 15 years has been striving to introduce this system “but every time their efforts are sabotaged for one reason or another”.
The PM noted only two companies are paying taxes in the cigarette industry, whilst 40pc of cigarettes are being sold in black, adding that “FBR had assured of rolling out the track & trace system by July this year but now the Sindh High Court has given a stay on it”.
He directed the law minister to apprise the high court of the actual situation to get the stay vacated, as the tax evasion cannot be checked without automation. “Due to tax evasion, we have to rely on indirect taxes, which lead to price hike.”
