ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has started operations against sugar mills across Pakistan to assess their stock positions and supply activities.
Official sources have confirmed that the FBR issued instructions on Saturday to the Inland Revenue offices with jurisdiction over sugar mills. These instructions invoke Section 40B of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, and direct the Inland Revenue offices to deploy officials to sugar mills for the purpose of monitoring sugar stock levels and dispatches.
This move by the FBR comes at a critical time when Pakistan is grappling with a sugar crisis, with retail sugar prices soaring by approximately 100 percent to reach around Rs 185 per kilogram. In response to the crisis, the federal cabinet recently upheld a ban on sugar exports to ensure an adequate supply in the domestic market. However, sugar prices continue to rise.
Sources within the FBR have noted that tax authorities have historically deployed officials to sugar mill premises annually to prevent tax evasion and hoarding.
Section 40B of the Sales Tax Act, 1990 grants the FBR the authority to assign an officer of Inland Revenue to registered persons or specific categories of individuals to monitor the production, sale of taxable goods, and stock positions.
In its latest instructions, the FBR has directed Chief Commissioners of Inland Revenue to ensure that the team assigned to each sugar mill conducts an initial stocktaking and shares a mandatory report with the FBR.
