KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has asked the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to provide details of all the taxpayers who have made offshore transactions during the last six years.
Official sources said that all corporate and individual taxpayers, who have made offshore investments, have been selected for audit to check the tax concealment. However, the number of cases selected for audit is unknown so far.
The FBR is also obtaining details of local assets of such taxpayers, besides property transactions made by them during the period.
Sources said that the FBR has also obtained property transaction record from the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and Bahria Town. The sale and purchase of diamond and gold remained unchecked in the past, but for the audit, the FBR is also tracking transactions of those valuables.
“Besides, the currency exchange companies have been asked to provide details of foreign currency purchase by selected corporate entities and individuals,” the official added.
The audit cases have been selected after the scrutiny of high net-worth individuals, the official said, adding that the records provided by the directors and executives of companies were examined carefully and discrepancies in transactions were identified.
Another official at the Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) Karachi said, in the past, the compliance in return filing by high net-worth individuals was very low as 30 percent were non-filers of 3,200 in the tax year 2015. However, this ratio has improved, as only 170 such individuals did not file their annual returns for the tax year 2016.
