ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue has reportedly decided to act sternly against the tax defaulters amongst the big guns of the country as the task to achieve the target of tax collections during the current fiscal year seems out of reach otherwise.
Sources within FBR told Customs Today that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has attained permission from the Prime Minister to get hold of the big shots including parliamentarians thought to be guilty of tax evasion and mis-declaration about their taxable income.
The target of revenue for the current fiscal year was Rs 2,475 billion but the strategy set forth in this regard has not been up to the mark. The plan to collect average Rs 206.25 billion every month has not been materialized so far neither does it seems so. Dar was extremely critical of the officials of FBR when he visited the Board’s head office in Islamabad recently.
In this background the government had planned to borrow $ 1.6 billion from World Bank too. An announcement is expected to be made in Washington DC in this regard on May 1. Dar is expected to leave for the US capital for this purpose.
Nonetheless, he and other fiscal managers have planned to proceed strictly against tax evaders. Such people could be arrested and could be put behind the bars, sources said. They added that FBR has compiled list of such people who are thought to be guilty of tax evasion and they could be sent notices within couple of days with the warning that they are to be brought to justice if they fail to meet their obligations in this regard.
