ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue’s Inland Revenue Enforcement, in its ongoing crackdown against illegal and non-duty paid cigarettes, has seized around 509 million sticks.
The FBR Enforcement started the campaign against illegal and non-duty paid cigarettes in January 2017. During the drive, RTO-II Karachi seized 50,000 sticks, I&I-IR Hyderabad seized 2.2468 million sticks, RTO Multan recovered 447,800 sticks, I&I-IR Multan confiscated 2 million sticks, RTO Faisalabad seized 3.76 million sticks I&I-IR Faisalabad 22.030 million, I&I-IR Lahore 10.2 million, RTO Sialkot 1.22 million, RTO Gujranwala 1.97 million, RTO Rawalpindi 63.2 million, I&I-IR Peshawar 480,000, RTO Peshawar seized 930,000 sticks, while RTO Rawalpindi seized 3,100 bales of processed tobacco, which is sufficient to produce over 400 million sticks.
Taking strict notice of tax evasion in tobacco sector, Federal Board of Revenue has constituted a joint committee for strict monitoring, vigilance and scrutiny of the cigarette/tobacco sector on January 6, 2016 as per the decisions taken during second Chief Commissioners conference.
On the instructions of the competent authorities Chief Commissioner Inland Revenue, Regional Tax Office Rawalpindi was appointed as Central Coordinator of IR Network on illicit tobacco/cigarette trade.
The main objectives of the enforcement network is to identifying core stakeholders in Cigarette/Tobacco sector, with reference to tax contribution, evasion of duty / taxes, tax jurisdiction and revenue generation. IR network is also responsible for developing and implementing strategies to combat illegal cigarette trade in Pakistan.
