KARACHI: During the audit of account of the Postal Appraisement Department for the period of the last quarter of the fiscal year 2012-13, Federal Board of Revenue has detected that Pakistan Post Office illegally retained around Rs 10 million, while deducting taxes on delivery of parcels, official sources said.
According to an audit report, the postal authorities deducted the amount of Rs 9.84 million as duties, sales tax, federal excise duty, withholding tax and special excise duty, while delivering the parcels during the fiscal year 2012-13 but the same amount was not remitted to the FBR account.
Pakistan Post is bound under a notification issued in February 1983 that duty and taxes assessed by the officers of Pakistan Customs on the parcel bills should be recovered by the postal authorities from the persons at the time of delivery.
Pakistan Post is also liable to get verified each bill, involving duty and taxes from the Customs officers to settle down the accounts between the two departments.
The officials said that in June 2002, further changes were brought in the law and the director accounts of Pakistan Customs was made responsible to issue payment details to be recovered from Pakistan Post on a quarterly basis and on the details, the senior post master made responsible to issue cheque of the same amount.
The officials said that during the audit of account of the Postal Appraisement Department for the period of the last quarter of the fiscal year 2012-13, it was discovered that the amount was not remitted that was deducted under the heads of duties, sales tax, federal excise duty, withholding tax, special excise duty and other to the Collector of Customs (Preventive) Karachi.
The audit observed: “The irregularity resulted in irregular retention of the government revenue worth Rs 9.841 million.”
A correspondence of the Postal Appraisement Department responded to the audit observation that the less amount remitted was due because the postal authorities detected 14.52 per cent as service charges on each delivery made.
The department said that the deduction was made with the approval of the Ministry of Finance through a letter issued in 1989. Interestingly, the department informed that neither the Appraisement Department nor the Pakistan Post had copies of such approval to substantiate the claims. The officials said that recently the appraisement informed the Federal Board of Revenue to hold a high-level meeting with the postal authorities to resolve the issue.
