Business

FBR to acquire data of 0.7m rich people

NADRA, car makers, banks, airlines and housing authorities to provide information to FBR.

Irshad Ansari February 04, 2011

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to broaden the tax net, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has spotted 700,000 rich individuals who own properties, bungalows and expensive vehicles but still evade taxes.

In this regard, the FBR has decided to acquire their data from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). A senior official at the FBR told The Express Tribune that they have also started acquiring data from car manufacturers, banks, airlines and housing authorities to cross-check the information provided by NADRA.

Income tax ordinance grants powers to the FBR when it comes to acquiring data from NADRA. However, NADRA officials are of the opinion that their rules do not allow them to share information but if they do it can only be done by charging the recipient for the information.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2011.

COMMENTS (8)

Sabih Shad | 13 years ago | Reply FBR should at the same time work to make it convenient to pay tax as well as maintain documentation. If income from salaries and dividends is deducted at source as well as the plethora of with-holding taxes against NTN and CNICs. Why can't it pre-populate Income Tax return forms with all this data. Pre-populated forms (indicating income) if they don't get completed by the concerned persion, surely would indicate to the authorities where something is going amiss.

Ali | 13 years ago | Reply Another good issue is, finding tax evaders is one thing, actually making them pay up is another. Theft and corruption should be rooted out at the top. Otherwise people will make the legitamate excuse that if the rulers of the country are not living by the laws that they are propogating, why should they?

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Ali | 13 years ago | Reply The money eqaarned here should be ring fenced for areas that will improve the economy in the future such as education.

Ali | 13 years ago | Reply This is a good first step. But what's stopping these people from transferring their resources abroad if they start feeling the heat from tax authorities? Taxing the rich land lords at source is the best system. We can accuraely estimate how much they earn just by knowing how big their land holding is. Let landlords deduct some money for modernisation/equipment and make them pay them balance. Taxing the industrial sector should not be too difficult either. Look at raw material consumption etc & hire some professionals to guesstimate total output and then tax them accordingly

shiraz | 13 years ago | Reply AIDS(ACCUMULATE INCOME DEPOSITED IN SWITZERLAND) PAKIS ARE TAXED FOR SWISS BANKS

Waqqas | 13 years ago | Reply Coool :)... Hold them from their necks... Drag them to court... Do take all taxes of pasts from them too.

Zazi | 13 years ago | Reply The election commission has the list of people who do not pay taxes. By asking NADRA's help FBR is jerking them around too. This has been going on ever since I was born. Every now and then somebody comes along to jerk us off.

Sara Noor Perriard | 13 years ago | Reply Go FBR, go! Put all the tax-evaders including all influential media barons behind the bars!

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