FBR examines India’s draft recovery plan

FBR agrees, in principle, to introduce draft recovery plan along the lines of Indian draft recovery plan 2010.

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has agreed, in principle, to introduce a draft recovery plan along the lines of the Indian tax authorities’ draft recovery plan 2010. However, the final decision in this regard will be taken by the ministry of finance.

According to sources, a draft of the recovery plan from across the border is being studied by the FBR’s enforcement department, amongst other countries’ tax recovery processes that are under scrutiny.

Sources said that the Indian draft contains a complete outline of the procedures and conditions for recovering tax dues and includes procedures for the appropriation of assets of taxpayers who fail to clear their dues. Processes for the freezing of bank accounts of such individuals are also outlined in the draft.

The 400-page draft includes clauses for the recovery processes for income tax, sales tax and federal excise duty. A clause from the draft says that an individual who fails to pay federal excise duty is declared a defaulter and action may be taken against that person if the status quo remains 30 days after the declaration. Similarly, another clause outlines recovery procedures for importers who evade customs duty.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2010.