FBR set to auction properties of iconic Bio Amla manufacturer to recover taxes

ISLAMABAD: The manufacturers of the iconic shampoo brand Bio Amla in Pakistan are set to have their properties auctioned to recover unpaid taxes. The auction will be carried out by the Federal Board for Revenue and is the first such auction that the board is conducting in its history.  

The upcoming auction caps a years-long saga in which the board has been running after the directors of Forvil Cosmetics Pvt Ltd — the company that manufactures the famous black shampoo bottle that has been around in Pakistan since at least the early 1980s. The auction will take place on the 21st of August this year. 

The initial investigation into the manufacturers of Bio Amla began back in 2017. Reports of serious under-invoicing had emerged back then after which the FBR had asked the Intellectual Property Organisation (IPO) to block the transfer, sale, and sub-leasing of the copyright, trademark, patent etc of Bio Amla and others owing to the default of sales tax. Forvil Cosmetics, which was founded back in the early 1960s, has long been a mainstay in Pakistan’s cosmetics market as an initial local player that created products domestically instead of importing them. 

However, because the company is privately owned and was allegedly involved in tax evasion, the FBR has put the organisation and its owners under intense scrutiny. Back in December 2022, the FBR had first moved to auction these properties. It had been brought to the attention of the office of the FBR that Zakauddin Shaikh, Zunir Ahmad, Khalida Parveen and Wamiq Zaka were directors of Forvil Cosmetics and hence defaulters of sales tax amounting to Rs 310.7 million along with default surcharge. 

The named defaulters have failed to deposit their payable taxes therefore the immovable properties of the defaulter taxpayer have been attached for sale for recovery of government dues. Those who are interested to participate in the auction are eligible by keeping in consideration the terms and conditions.

All bidders shall be required to declare if they are bidding on their own behalf or on behalf of their principals and in the latter case, they shall be required to deposit their authority to bid, otherwise in case of default, their bid shall be rejected.

The aforesaid government dues have not been deposited by the above said defaulters till date and moreover the government dues have become almost Rs570 million including penalty and default surcharge which have to be paid by the above said defaulters/director of the company.

Sources said that a formal opinion was taken from the department in which the legal team confirmed that the trademarks or copyrights that constitute financial goodwill fall under the category of movable property.

The sales tax registration number of this company has also been suspended. Officials said that this is a historic move which has never been done before and this initiative will discourage tax evaders and increase the tax revenue of FBR.