Rs231.8m land transfer scam unearthed

Outgoing commissioner exposes separate Rs393m scam in municipal corporation

JARANWALA:

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has uncovered misappropriation amounting to Rs231.82 million during a two-month scrutiny of registration and transfer records of immovable properties by sub-registrars in Faisalabad District.

In response, the deputy commissioner has constituted a five-member inquiry committee, led by the additional deputy commissioner for finance and planning, tasked with fixing responsibility and submitting a report within seven days.

Sources indicate that the Commissioner of the Inland Revenue Withholding Zone at the Faisalabad Regional Tax Office informed the deputy commissioner through a letter dated December 22, 2024, about the findings from the audit of sub-registrars.

Information regarding property registrations and transfers was gathered from the Director General of the Punjab Land Record Authority (PLRA) in Lahore. A desk and field audit was conducted to verify electronic registries processed by sub-registrars from July 1, 2024, to August 31, 2024.

The audit revealed that the applicable tax rates under Sections 236C and 236K of the Finance Act 2024 were not implemented.

Consequently, tax collectable under these sections of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 was inadequately collected during property registrations, resulting in a substantial revenue loss to the government.

A total of 1,844 property transactions were identified with discrepancies attributed to sub-registrars in various tehsils, including Faisalabad Saddar, where Rs85.14 million was misappropriated, and Faisalabad City Urban-1 and Urban-2, with a loss of Rs62.27 million.

In Jaranwala Tehsil, Rs41.07 million was affected, while Samundari Tehsil saw Rs22.67 million lost, Tandianwala Tehsil reported Rs4.62 and Chak Jhumra Tehsil faced a shortfall of Rs16.05 million.

An anonymous officer from the Deputy Commissioner's office noted that the FBR Commissioner issued reconciliation and recovery notices to the concerned sub-registrars on October 2, 2024, to recover the misappropriated amount. However, the sub-registrars failed to deposit the default amount or respond to the FBR.

To ensure the investigation reaches a conclusion within the set timeframe, the Additional Deputy Commissioner has convened the inquiry committee and relevant revenue offices twice to provide the necessary records for review and to establish accountability, along with recommendations for legal action.

It is important to note that the outgoing commissioner, Silwat Saeed, recently exposed a separate Rs393 million scam involving the misappropriation of transfer tax on immovable property fees during the registration of sale deeds.

This scandal implicated 10 municipal corporation officials, who were suspended from government service pending a high-level inquiry to recover the embezzled funds.

The commissioner has also directed the deputy commissioners of Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Jhang, and Chiniot to investigate property tax fee fraud further.