ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Nisar Muhammad Khan has said that FBR, the country’s top revenue authority, wants the federal government to amend laws which limit its powers in probing Panama Papers allegations.
The FBR chairman said this during Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting, which met under the chairmanship of Leader of the Opposition Khursheed Ahmed Shah. However, the FBR chairman said that the Board is completing its homework to probe the issue of the Panama Papers.
To a question raised by PAC member Shafqat Mahmood, Nisar Muhammad said that FBR was looking into the names pointed out in Panama Papers and promised action would be taken as per the law. The FBR chairman informed the committee that the FBR would investigate if it noticed any tax evasion, adding that it had opened cases from as long as five years ago.
Khursheed Shah asked the FBR chief about the tax being deducted on mobile cards and inquired about its onward deposit to the exchequer. Nisar Muhammad informed the PAC that 32 percent tax levied on the mobile cards included 18.5 percent direct tax and 14 percent withholding tax. The chairman said the major share of these is transferred to provinces while the federal government retains the share of Federal Capital, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and FATA.
“This year, for the first time, the government has introduced a law stipulating that the telecom companies will conduct forensic audit,” he added. He said that federal and provincial governments had no mechanisms to conduct forensic audits but they would be introduced during this financial year.
Nisar Muhammad said that he recently discussed the issue with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) chairman. He said the FBR has brought into tax net the services being provided by mobile phone operators.
Sheikh Rohale Asghar suggested that mobile phone companies should obtain permission from the FBR before issuing mobile phone cards. Shafqat Mahmood inquired about the possibility of immediate intimation to FBR about the activation of each mobile card. This would, he argued help making the system more transparent.
