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The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), in a notification issued on Tuesday, said it was in "hot pursuit" of 169 wealthy, non-filers as part of a government drive for the recovery of taxes from "big and influential tax evaders".
Spearheading the initiative is Finance Minister Asad Umar, who had recently announced the measures the finance ministry was going to undertake to widen the tax net during an interview aired on Channel 92.
"Initially, FBR is going to catch the top 100 people who have bought the most amount of land and cars, but are not filers and do not give taxes. This will be done over the span of a few weeks after which in a comprehensive exercise, people who have lavish lifestyles, as in travelling in the business class etc will be identified.
"I thought you would ask why only 100 people, let me answer that anyway, it is 100 people so that FBR cannot sidestep this and say that as there are too many people the exercise will take too long. With only 100 people, the exercise will not take more than a few weeks," he had explained.
Also read: Digital taxation can help increase collection
In line with the same, the government notification today has expanded on the promise to include 169 evaders who have a "proven trail of large business transactions and financial deals".
Individuals subjected to scrutiny include those who have "purchased properties over Rs20 million, or purchased 1800CC or larger engine cars, or received rent to the tune of Rs10 million or more in a year", but have not bothered to file tax returns.
The notification clarifies that these measures are being taken without any discrimination. It also encourages people to pay their due taxes within the due date, i.e, November 30.
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Comments (34) Closed
Oct 02, 2018 08:26pm
It is obvious that tax system in the country requires reforms to function properly. Besides those 169 wealthy, non-tax fillers, there may be many more non-filers. Why can't a system be developed that every one of legal age has to file a simple tax form declaring their income, even a zero income, inf no earnings. Hope tax system can be reformed to prevent further revenue losses to the country and its people.
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Oct 02, 2018 08:40pm
Why only 169 ? Every owner of the cars of 1,300 CC rating and above should be investigated for tax evasion.
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Oct 02, 2018 08:49pm
Great move....widen it to 1000 big non-filers.....and there would be a huge jump in tax collection....hire highest merit individuals in FBR.....and pay them good salaries...
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Oct 02, 2018 09:14pm
The foremost is to clean the FBR from black sheep, otherwise, we will fail again.
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Oct 02, 2018 09:18pm
Let’s see if any PTI affiliate gets to the list.
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Oct 02, 2018 09:43pm
List the names of all non fillers, public has a right to know.
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Oct 02, 2018 09:45pm
They did not "bother" because they did not want to file.
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Oct 02, 2018 09:45pm
169 tax evaders, how much would be collected from those individuals. Pls mr umer think some sense. Come up with real solutions, now tax personnel will harass business community and ask for bribes or be on the list. Just make sure everyone who owns property pays property tax including flats, houses and shops only empty plots are exempt. 99 percent Pakistani doesn’t pay property tax. Then very high duties on imports it will help democratic production, cut government expenditures, and start closing oil base power generations and changing to hydroelectric or other alternative way where we do not have to import oil. Also cut government funding to departments don’t show progress or development. Farming and natural gas are two very big sectors we completely fail to revive them. PIA privatize is very necessary before it had to be closedown. Steel mill give to arm forces so export of arms can be increase, also full fill local needs without government funding. So many ways to make Pakistan great but there is no sincerity. Pls use local companies and talent for big projects and pay in rupees.
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Oct 02, 2018 09:47pm
169 non filers feeding off taxpayers' hard work.
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Oct 02, 2018 09:56pm
This is the only way Pakistan and its people can survive.
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Oct 02, 2018 09:56pm
Time is money. People are taking their own life and their loved one for not having anything to eat Job creation is required immediately. For corrupt, put the iron hands on those who sold the PIA plane or purchased unwanted railway engins in the Generals Perwaiz Musharaf era. (Both culprits were uniformed line)
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Oct 02, 2018 10:04pm
This drive is bound to fail unless a) Gov is willing in publicly shaming the 169 rich non filers and placing them on ECL b) Zardari/Nawaz and Co face Justice c) publicly accountable audits in NAB, FBR, FIA, PIA, PSM etc. PMLN/PPP still has a major following in these dept recruited to nepotism's peak.
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Oct 02, 2018 10:27pm
I'm sure FBR is conscious of the fact that property is greatly undervalued when bought to avoid stamp duty. Therefore, they should take true value of the property at the time of sale into account when assessing tax liabilities.
Efficient and sufficient number of employees will be required to make tax net expansion campaign successful.
It would be a good idea to hire unemployed graduates especially in accounting & finance, mathematics/statistics etc on a temporary basis to make this campaign successful and productive.
Existing FBR workforce would struggle with additional duties and long hours which would adversely affect their well-being and work-life balance. Unfortunately, in our homeland, you won't get overtime payments for working extra hours!
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Oct 02, 2018 10:31pm
Good step pti
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Oct 02, 2018 11:06pm
I tried to pay in several shops using debit and credit card but the shops which previously accepted cards are not accepting now. I am not sure if it is my bad luck or the shops consider payments through card a risk that their business transactions will become traceable.
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Oct 02, 2018 11:40pm
We are interested in knowing amount recovered as result of notices.
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Oct 02, 2018 11:47pm
Govt may also explore the possibility of shifting suitably qualified surplus staff from other departments e.g. PIA to FBR to tackle staff shortages there. Availability of sufficient human resource is crucial for the success of such campaigns. This would also help tackle overcrowding in PIA which is one of the main reasons for its downfall and record deficit. Redeployment of staff is quite common in other countries.
One of reasons for tax avoidance at lower level in the developed countries is shortage of human resource. As they get sufficient taxes from the rich, they don't bother going after low level tax avoiders.
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Oct 02, 2018 11:57pm
What a great step? Anyone who has bought property worth Rs. 20 million!!! What do you get in 20 million these days. Even ordinary houses and apartments in middle class localities cost more than that! If an ordinary person sells his house or apartment situated in one of these localities, and buys another property with that money. he will fall into this category. Strange and funny, isn't it, that some big politicians are being investigated for opening false, benami accounts in which transactions of billions take place, and seemingly getting away with it, and an ordinary middle class fella who is probably not even taxable will be hounded by FBR for being a 'non-filer!!' The regressive taxation system needs overhaul badly, and the real big fish who have amassed billions should be seriously dealt with first, and caught.
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Oct 03, 2018 12:16am
Simple answer they din:t pay tax because their income is from agriculture which is not taxabl.
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Oct 03, 2018 12:37am
@Tabdeli Agae - This is coming too!
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Oct 03, 2018 01:12am
Non tax filers exist only because of corruption , in most countries no tax filers end up with 7 yrs mandatory in jail, get rid of the corrupt, and everything will be ok.
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Oct 03, 2018 01:16am
How are you going to stop the bribes taken , so that non tax filers get away.
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Oct 03, 2018 01:19am
The reforms can come later , but right now you have to get rid of the corruption.
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Oct 03, 2018 01:21am
Proper and prompt collection of taxes is the life blood of the nation.
FBR should be given maximum powers to collect the taxes from all income taxpayers amd also the support to ensure that taxes are remitted,collected, audited and enforced on time.
The life of the nation depends on everyone pating their fair chare of taxes !!
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Oct 03, 2018 02:19am
Please also use electronic records to cross-match ridiculuos assets, e.g. a Mercedes registered at a cheap apartment.
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Oct 03, 2018 03:17am
have they been put on ECL? i bet not.
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Oct 03, 2018 04:25am
I do not file returns in Pakistan. I hope my name is not included in those 169. Any way nothing will come out except some foreign trips by FBR officers at public expense. Waste of money.
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Oct 03, 2018 05:26am
I hope that after these 169 tax avoiders, FBR will gradually increase it's activities to bring in even more wealthy people into the tax net. I don't understand why only those who bought cars and land are being taken into account? There are many other people who practise avoidance of taxation but hide their real assets , usually have them under the names of wives, children or other close relatives etc. These aspects should be also looked at.
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Oct 03, 2018 05:36am
This news makes me so happy.
Long live Pakistan.
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Oct 03, 2018 06:10am
The problem is not the non filers but the corrupt in FBR. People dont give tax as they dont know where it goes. Have not seen any changes in FBR staff.
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Oct 03, 2018 06:25am
Land registry price in PK is always far lower than the market price to hide black money and of course save stamp duty. What mechanism will be followed to decipher whose property value is actually is different than what is been disclosed in the land registry.
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Oct 03, 2018 07:24am
> it is 100 people so that FBR cannot sidestep this and say that as there are too many people the exercise will take too long.
If the FBR is not sincere then they will simply find some other excuse. Corruption within the FBR should be dealt with first.
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Oct 03, 2018 07:44am
Good intentions but wrong action by the finance minister. First, do the FBR cleansing, bring organisational changes, hire intelligent, honest and hard working employees. Otherwise, this “hot pursuit” drive will fail as it happened at many occasions in the past, unless this experience is being conducted to make YouTube videos and social media consumption. Tax collection is the most easy, simple and effective process in western countries, why can’t this be done in Pakistan?
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Oct 03, 2018 09:47am
@Tabdeli Agae actually thats exactly how the system works. You just log in to the IRIS website by FBR, and submit your returns. even if its zero income. :)
It is the public and tax practitioners that are destroying the system.
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