ISLAMABAD: The prompt action of the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) Dr Asif Mahmood Jah has forced the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to place safeguards to deal with cases involving fake/flying invoices through Sales Tax General Order No. 12 of 2023 preventing sales tax frauds to the tune of billions.
In this regard, the FBR has issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to deal with cases involving fake/flying invoices through Sales Tax General Order No. 12 of 2023 dated 07.09.2023 on the basis of investigation ordered by Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) Dr Asif Mahmood Jah in a unique kind of scam involving tax officials, lawyers, Chartered Accountant, in issuing and managing flying/fake invoices by misusing electronic USER ID and passwords.
When contacted tax lawyer Waheed Shahzad Butt who is representing this case before FTO told this correspondent that FTO has directed to conduct a comprehensive investigation not only in complainant case but also in other connected suppliers/vendors cases involved in this chain of tax fraud with Pakistan, while complaint has been lodged against Chairman FBR, FBR key Members (Operations, Legal, Admin & IT), CEO PRAL, DG I&I, Director FIA, lawyers, Chartered Accountant and FBR tax employees.
Fake/flying invoices: Taxmen told to conduct probe into cases of big cos
Waheed further added that SOP to deal with Cases involving Fake Flying Invoices through STGO 12/2023 is a landmark development based on exceptional legal acumen and untiring efforts in achieving a significant milestone for the accountability forum of Pakistan (FTO) by the Adviser-IT FTO ROL coupled with Adviser Legal, FTO HQ Islamabad.
Waheed Shahzad Butt informed that earlier in C.No.390 landmark recommendations have been issued by the FTO, which states “FBR to: set up a task force to investigate all aspects of sales tax fraud and propose effective countermeasures; restructure PRAL and I & I with a view to transform them into proactive agents of sales tax fraud prevention/detection; review I & I staffing policy and only highly qualified professionals with demonstrated expertise in uncovering cases of online white-collar crime should be assigned key investigative roles; proceed against tax employees found involved in perpetration of fraud and bring them to justice, particularly those in the higher ranks; hire high quality prosecutors to handle complex tax frauds prosecutions; enable prospective buyers to deal only with legitimate sellers. The procedure for blacklisting and listing as INACTIVE must be telescoped so that doubtful firms do not remain in the field to dupe innocent buyers”.
The recent issuance of STGO No. 12/23 is a significant milestone in ongoing efforts to promote transparency and accountability in our nation’s financial system. It is indeed the first step towards achieving real accountability. The impact of curbing sales tax fraud cannot be overstated. It has the potential to save multi-billions of rupees for our impoverished nation, which can be channeled towards essential services and programs that benefit 250M citizens, particularly the underprivileged: Waheed Butt added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
Comments
Comments are closed.