Around US$ 40bn laundered in last 40 years from country; FBR tells Senate body

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Shabbar Zaidi Tuesday informed the Senate Standing Committee on Finance that approximately $40 billion was laundered through illegal channels in last 40 years from the country.

He said the government was committed to curtail the money laundering and under invoicing for maintaining transparency and accountability in the national economy.

The FBR chairman briefed the Senate’s Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs which met here with Senator Farooq H Naik in the chair to deliberate on the Finance Bill 2019.

The meeting reviewed the Finance Bill 2019 as well as the clauses proposed by the FBR for changes in Customs Act 1969 and Sales Tax Act 1990 and also gave direction for changing in different clauses of Finance bill 2019.

Meanwhile, FBR Chairman Shabbar Zaidi and Member Inland and Revenue-Policy Dr Hamid Ateeq Sarwar briefed the committee regarding the different clauses related to immoveable property, Islamabad Capital Territory Tax, Ordinance 2017 and taxes on tribal region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Money Laundering.

The committee also approved the proposal of Islamabad Capital Territory Tax, Ordinance 2017 and informed that taxes were increased on some services only.

The committee also reviewed the different clauses of Income tax according to the direction of the committee members.

The committee was also informed that Super Tax had been abolished from companies instead the banking sector.

Through ‘Super Tax’, the government was collecting Rs30 billion in terms of revenues.

Meanwhile, FBR official informed the committee that sugar was a wide industry but its contributions in revenues was minimal, adding in federal budget 2019-20, duty was imposed on the sugar sector.

The committee directed the FBR that while imposing the tax on the immoveable property, there should be classification of building and plat in order to simplifying the tax collecting system.

The officials said life-time token tax on 1,000cc cars was fixed at Rs10,000, 1300cc Rs15,00 per anum, where as 2000-2500cc was fixed at Rs8,000 and above that the token tax was fixed at Rs12,000 annually.

The committee rejected the tax proposals for the retailers, jewelers, departmental stores, electronic goods and printing press falling in the jurisdictions of Islamabad Capital Territory.

The committee also reviewed the proposal of Senator Mirza Muhammad Afridi for exemption of Federal Excise Duty on the industrial sector of merged, Federally Administrated Areas (FATA).

Senator Afridi proposed the committee to extend the tax exemption for merged FATA region for next five years to provide level playing field to the local industrial sector.

The committee gave direction to the FBR for resolve the matter of merged FATA region and reports to the committee by Wednesday.

Senators Mohsin Aziz, Dilawar Khan, Muhammad Talha Mahmood, Mian Muhammad Ateeq shaokh, Imam uddin Shouqeen and representatives of the Ministry of Finance and Revenue and Ministry of Commerce attended the meeting.