ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) informed the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue that reply from the Singaporean tax authorities on mode of funds transaction for the purchase of St. James Hotel and Club located at 7 Park Palace London was awaited.
A Pakistani business tycoon had purchased both the properties abroad and Senate Committee had taken up the issue, seeking inquiry whether the funds were transacted from Pakistan after paying due taxes and from declared assets of the said person or not.
Moreover, the senators were also curious to know whether any financial irregularity was committed in the transaction of funds or not.
Senators seemed annoyed with FBR’ explanation and termed the explanation as delaying tactics and excuses for not presenting a report before the committee. Therefore, chairman and members threatened to move a privilege motion in the House against Rehmatullah Khan Wazir for not providing the required information to the committee.
They assumed that the FBR team was not willing to share the required information with the committee for being under government’s pressure. Therefore, Chairman Committee Salim Mandviwala asked Wazir to discuss the issue with Chairman FBR, otherwise, committee would move privilege motion against him (Wazir).
Shrugging off the hard and pinching pressure from the members of the committee over non presentation of updated progress report into the inquiry in this matter, FBR team led by Member Inland Revenue-Policy Rehmatullah Khan Wazir, was a persistent that a fewer articles of the treaty between Pakistan and United Kingdom called for secrecy on some matters.
However, Wazir said that FBR wrote a letter to Her Majesty Revenue and Customs (HMRC) under article 26 of the convention between United Kingdom and Pakistan regarding certain details in respect of the ownership of M/s Sea Capital Limited UK, which turn owns St. James Hotel and Club located at 7 Park Palace London.
HMRC through their reply shared the available information with FBR. The information so shared has raised certain further questions which related to parent company of M/s Sea Capital Limited namely M/s Residentia holdings PTE Limited Singapore,
Now he said that FBR had written a letter to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore to clarify the issues and questions raised by FBR. Further action will be taken as and when information from Singapore authorities is received.
Normally, he said that Singaporean authorities had conveyed that their organization used to take 90 days’ time for replying any query of this nature.
