At Senate panel, FBR defends Rs6b vehicle purchase

Clarifies that official vehicles to be allocated only for Grade 17-18 officers

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ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has submitted a letter to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, clarifying its stance on the procurement of new vehicles for its staff.

The letter states that the vehicles will only be allocated to Grade 17 and 18 officers working in field offices and engaged in field operations. Officers in Grade 19 and above will not be provided vehicles under this arrangement.

The vehicles will be assigned to offices rather than individuals to prevent misuse, it added.

To further ensure transparency, the FBR plans to place official stickers on the vehicles to curb unauthorised use. The letter also specifies that the vehicles will be procured locally from manufacturers or their authorised agents, in compliance with the law.

"Out of approximately 260,000 manufacturers who should be paying sales tax, only 42,000 are registered with the FBR and even those that are registered are also not fully compliant".

The FBR said that sugar factories were often situated in remote areas, and hundreds of officials were deployed to monitor sugar production in locations without public transportation. It noted that the previous practice of relying on sugar mill owners for commuting arrangements had undermined the officials' integrity.

Regarding the economic challenges currently facing the country, the FBR noted that foreign debt repayments have reached unprecedented levels. The letter added that sustained economic recovery depends on achieving revenue collection targets, with the FBR working on a war footing to meet the target of Rs1,300 billion in tax collections.

The tax body further noted that the staff needed to be mobile and active in the field to ensure tax recovery, adding that in the previous fiscal year, the FBR faced a tax gap of Rs600 billion, including a shortfall of Rs350 billion in sales tax collections.