Investigation, survey units to be set up in RTOs: FBR

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to establish new kind of "Investigation and Survey Units" in all Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) for broadening the tax-base. Sources told Business Recorder on Monday that the issue of broadening the tax-base was taken up in the last board-in-council meeting chaired by FBR Chairman Ahmed Waqar.
Tax authorities discussed various proposals for broadening the tax-base and it was agreed that the "Investigation and Survey Units" be set-up in all RTOs. According to sources, the survey departments had actively worked during 1980s when this wing was exclusively collecting information on taxpayers from various sources. The officials of the survey wing physically went to different government organisations for collecting data on taxpayers through internal survey.
The survey wing used to collect data and an official document, ie "communication slip" (verification note) was dispatched to the field formations for compliance. The "communication slip" contains data on big evasion cases supported by necessary evidence of evasion. This (verification note) was signed by some senior tax officials for enforcement by the field formations.
Sources recalled that the survey wings in 80s had detected potential cases on the basis of data of electricity and natural gas consumption. Some mega cases were detected taking into account the data collection from property and real estate transactions. It seemed that the "Investigation and Survey Units" would be established on the same pattern of survey wing for bringing potential taxpayers into the tax net.
It is important to mention that the board had constituted special cells in each RTO to collect data on real estate sector and electricity/gas consumption by commercial and industrial consumers to bring all potential units into the tax net. Special cells were assigned to verify information on purchasers of property and other transactions within the real estate sector.
The buying and selling of property would be checked to document the investors behind such transactions. The data on purchasers of new vehicles, insurance companies, connections of electricity and natural gas by the commercial and industrial consumers and other data would be verified to broaden the tax-base. The field offices might rename the existing survey units into the "Investigation and Survey Units" for taking effective measures to broaden the tax-base.