Amir Khan

A parliamentary panel has directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to submit within 15 days the details of the tax cases pending in various courts. The directives were issued by Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue chairman Saleem Mandviwala during a meeting, reports WealthPK. Senator Mandviwala said that the delay in settlement of tax cases is causing huge revenue losses and asked the finance ministry to bring out the reasons for the delay in their settlement.

Minister of State for Finance Dr Ayesha Ghous Pasha requested the committee to give the FBR 15 days for providing details of tax cases involving trillions of rupees, which was granted. On the issue of vintage cars' import, the state minister sought the committee’s recommendations for raising it again in the cabinet as earlier a cabinet committee had rejected the summary to this effect. Regarding raids on tobacco industry, the state minister informed the committee that Inland Revenue teams of FBR took action in certain areas in accordance with the law.

She said 348 non-duty paid cartons were recovered during the raids, and clarified that female officials conducted the raids at houses in Nankana Sahib. The committee was informed that Inland Revenue officials are conducting regular checks on highways and markets. She said the federal excise duty paid by the tobacco industry is very low keeping in view its size.Senator Dilawar Khan informed the committee that FBR did not find any cartons from the houses during raids, rather these were recovered from shops.

The committee chairman instructed Dr Ayesha Ghous to investigate the matter. Meanwhile, FBR officials told the committee that it is collecting tax ranging from 40-58% from electricity bills of commercial and industrial units, whereas it is collecting 29% tax on domestic bills. The state minister assured the committee that she would look into the alleged harassment of Senator Dr Afnanullah Khan by an FBR officer.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk