ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Imported goods worth about Rs1.12 trillion under the FATA and PATA tax exemption scheme are under scrutiny, a Senate sub-committee was told, with records identified for only about a third of them.
Officials told the Senate Sub-Committee on Interior and Anti-Narcotics that consumption certificates and related records had been identified for goods worth about Rs389 billion. Further details were needed on the rest, including how the imports were used and what tax was still owed. The panel heard that 223 consumption certificates had been issued to 108 companies, and asked why full information on imports, factory production and tax payments was not available for all of them.
Senator Saifullah Abro, the convenor, directed the Federal Board of Revenue, the Federal Investigation Agency and other institutions to submit complete documents, work out any revenue losses and establish responsibility for any violations. He questioned the FBR’s performance, saying Pakistan was seeking loans from international institutions while billions of rupees in alleged tax dues went unrecovered.
Abro said public money would be recovered at all costs. If investigations established tax evasion or financial irregularities, he said, those responsible must be identified, legal action taken and the amounts paid into the national exchequer.
He ordered a separate case file of import records, customs documents, consumption certificates, tax payments and bank statements, and asked for the legal basis and documents behind about Rs85 billion. Officials said companies had to deposit an amount or pay order equal to the value of imported goods with customs before those goods could be released to factories.
