ISLAMABAD:
Federal Board of Revenue says it will expedite investigations into the
alleged tax evasion and concealment of assets by a political dynasty of
senators and acknowledged that the case has not yet been concluded.
Reacting on a report published in The News on Tuesday about Senator Gulzar and his family that hid their businesses abroad from tax authorities, a senior FBR official told The News that operation wing had directed the regional offices to expedite the investigation bringing the case to a logical conclusion at the earliest.
However, it remains to be seen when the official claims in this respect are translated into reality as FBR has traditionally been soft on the big fish involved in tax evasion.The official said majority of the family members neither filed tax returns nor submitted wealth statements in the years under examination and they have been served with show cause notices.
A legal battle in UK over the possession of super-expensive mansion worth Rs14 billion has brought under scrutiny the alleged tax evasion and concealment of assets in Pakistan and abroad by a family of senators.
Senator Gulzar Ahmed, his sons (privatization minister in PPP government) Senator Waqar Ahmed and now-former Senator Ammar Ahmed Khan are at the center stage of this controversy.
This case has become a test case for the government that has voted for the National Assembly resolution moved by PTI MNA Asad Umar demanding investigation into the tax evasion of all the parliamentarians.
While the family has persistently been declaring losses in businesses to avoid taxes in Pakistan, its statement deposited to the London’s high court in litigation against Deutsche Bank offers contrasting confession.
The court documents spills the beans about properties and businesses in and outside Pakistan neither claimed in tax returns submitted to Federal Board of Revenue nor in asset details submitted to Election Commission of Pakistan.
This is a typical story of a rich family using political clout to thrive in business without returning any penny in taxes to the public exchequer.While the declaration of previously concealed assets and only in the UK’s court could not win legal battle to the family there; however, it earned the family unpleasant attention in Pakistan that has now been spotted on the radar screen of the FBR’s wing hunting down tax evaders.
Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (Inland Revenue) of FBR after diligently examining the UK court’s record unearthed massive tax fraud and details forwarded for thorough scrutiny to the regional tax office in Lahore.
Senator Gulzar, his wife Razia Sultan, his daughter Sehr Ashar, Senator Waqar and Ammar Ahmed were recommended for thorough probe.The investigation was ordered in November last year without any progress so far that raises apprehensions about the likely ‘shut and close case’ in the name of ‘political reconciliation.’
Reacting on a report published in The News on Tuesday about Senator Gulzar and his family that hid their businesses abroad from tax authorities, a senior FBR official told The News that operation wing had directed the regional offices to expedite the investigation bringing the case to a logical conclusion at the earliest.
However, it remains to be seen when the official claims in this respect are translated into reality as FBR has traditionally been soft on the big fish involved in tax evasion.The official said majority of the family members neither filed tax returns nor submitted wealth statements in the years under examination and they have been served with show cause notices.
A legal battle in UK over the possession of super-expensive mansion worth Rs14 billion has brought under scrutiny the alleged tax evasion and concealment of assets in Pakistan and abroad by a family of senators.
Senator Gulzar Ahmed, his sons (privatization minister in PPP government) Senator Waqar Ahmed and now-former Senator Ammar Ahmed Khan are at the center stage of this controversy.
This case has become a test case for the government that has voted for the National Assembly resolution moved by PTI MNA Asad Umar demanding investigation into the tax evasion of all the parliamentarians.
While the family has persistently been declaring losses in businesses to avoid taxes in Pakistan, its statement deposited to the London’s high court in litigation against Deutsche Bank offers contrasting confession.
The court documents spills the beans about properties and businesses in and outside Pakistan neither claimed in tax returns submitted to Federal Board of Revenue nor in asset details submitted to Election Commission of Pakistan.
This is a typical story of a rich family using political clout to thrive in business without returning any penny in taxes to the public exchequer.While the declaration of previously concealed assets and only in the UK’s court could not win legal battle to the family there; however, it earned the family unpleasant attention in Pakistan that has now been spotted on the radar screen of the FBR’s wing hunting down tax evaders.
Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (Inland Revenue) of FBR after diligently examining the UK court’s record unearthed massive tax fraud and details forwarded for thorough scrutiny to the regional tax office in Lahore.
Senator Gulzar, his wife Razia Sultan, his daughter Sehr Ashar, Senator Waqar and Ammar Ahmed were recommended for thorough probe.The investigation was ordered in November last year without any progress so far that raises apprehensions about the likely ‘shut and close case’ in the name of ‘political reconciliation.’
