FBR freezes PR accounts, recovers Rs60mn

PR obtains stay from court; contends FBR claims of non-payment of dues

LAHORE:

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) froze the bank accounts of Pakistan Railways (PR) and recovered Rs60 million due to non-payment of its dues.

However, after the PR approached the court to restrain the FBR and obtained a stay, the accounts were restored. The FBR has nevertheless not returned the recovered amount as the court directed officials to resolve the financial issues within a month.

It was learnt that the PR defaulted on Rs60 million of the FBR in terms of income tax for the year 2007.

According to sources, the railway officials have contended that they have provided all the required evidence regarding the payment of dues to the FBR officials several times and have said that there were no dues.

However, they added, the FBR officials were not only unwilling to heed and accept the documentary evidence but have also increased the amount, including the fine, manifold.

In this regard, CFO Ziaullah Niazi maintained that the FBR cannot collect tax on terms of economy class tickets, adding that economy class has been included in the requirements imposed by the FBR authorities.

“The railway officials have given all the proofs to the FBR officials every time but they are not paying attention to this while the amount to be recovered from the railway account is also unnecessary and the FBR should return this amount to the railways,” he added.