THURSDAY DECEMBER 20: Understated or misstated tax figures: FBR chief extends a helping hand to lawmakers

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Ali Arshad Hakim on Wednesday said the FBR will stand behind parliamentarians who want to adopt legal course against their understated or misstated tax figures in a report which is contradictory to the actual tax status of the members of National Assembly and Senate.
Disclosing some important developments on the issue of tax payments before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, Ali Arshad Hakim said that there is a major difference between data reported and actual tax information available with the FBR. The tax information of Members of National Assembly and Senate has been misstated or understated as information maintained with the FBR database is entirely different from the data released in the recently published report regarding parliamentarians. "If someone (parliamentarian) takes legal action against the report of the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), the FBR will stand behind him, he said, adding that if your right has been infringed and you wanted to take the legal course, the FBR is with you," he assured the committee.
The FBR Chairman suggested that the Board can establish 'Special Advisory Desk' at the parliament to guide and facilitate the parliamentarians on issuance of National Tax Numbers (NTNs) to the members of National Assembly and Senate. Similar kind of Tax Advisory Cells could be established at the level of all four provincial assemblies. The FBR can also depute expert tax officials at the National Assembly and Senate to correct the tax affairs of the parliamentarians. The 'Special Advisory Desk' would issue NTNs to the parliamentarians, who are paying taxes, but not on the tax-roll of the FBR. However, this requires approval of the committee for issuance of the NTNs, whose tax has been deducted at source on salary. "Let's convert this event into an opportunity to correct the affairs of the parliamentarians. This would send a very good signal to the general public and improve documentation and tax compliance on national level," he added.
Referring to the leakage of politician's tax information, the FBR Chairman said it is a pure case of data theft. The FBR has ordered high-level internal inquiry against the theft of confidential information pertaining to tax payments of parliamentarians. The FBR has also decided to conduct forensic inquiry of the issue and report to the committee within next two weeks period. The FBR is investigating all aspects of the case including departments having access to the FBR database. It is also being analysed that which institution has accessed the FBR internal data.
Ali Arshad Hakim admitted before the committee that complete electronic data format of the taxpayers is only available with the FBR. Total taxpayers data is only maintained by the FBR and we only provide selected data to the Election Commission of Pakistan. Generally, the FBR does not share this information with anyone.
Hakeem said during the inquiry the FBR will identify individuals, who were involved in theft of data. The criminal case would be registered against the person involved and FIR would be lodged against him under the law. About issuance of clarification of selected parliamentarian by the FBR, Ali Arshad Hakim said that whosoever has approached the FBR for clarification, the FBR has issued press releases after confirmation of the declared information.
At present, each and every National Tax Number (NTN) is being verified along with tax payments. It is a very tricky issue, as FBR cannot publicly disclose individuals' information under the provisions of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001. On the other hand, the FBR will also issue a comprehensive press release on the issue. Responding to a query, the FBR Chairman said that the tax has been withheld at different stages, but the same has not been reflected in the income tax returns. This has created problems in the data of taxpayers available with the tax department.