High Level Military and Bureaucracy Meeting Discusses Under Invoicing Issue

A top-level meeting between senior military officials and civil bureaucracy was held on Thursday to review reforms in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and national strategy to deal with the menace of under-invoicing. Official sources told ProPakistani that the meeting was attended by caretaker Finance Minister Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, FBR Chairman Amjad Zubair Tiwana and Governor State Bank of Pakistan Jameel Ahmed, Secretary Ministry of Finance Imdad Ullah Bosal and some other senior government officials. Top government officials visited the army house in Rawalpindi to have a meeting with the senior military officials, the sources added. The meeting reviewed major tax reforms and restructuring of the FBR besides measures to tackle the menace of under-invoicing. The FBR officials informed that there is a discrepancy worth $7.51 billion in imports and exports statistics with four major trading partners. It was reported that Pakistani traders have allegedly been found involved in the under-invoicing of imported goods of over $7.51 billion to four major trading partners namely: China, Singapore, Germany, and the United Kingdom. There is a gap of $3-4 billion in trade volume with China and the FBR is working to acquire real-time data from China. The official said that similar trade gaps exist in other countries as well. The Customs Department including the Customs Intelligence Department has already launched a massive crackdown against warehouses storing smuggled goods, secret illegal storages, and pumping stores of petroleum products. The government has decided to provide support to law enforcement agencies, specifically the Customs Intelligence Department, for taking action against smugglers. The action would not focus on small tankers/vehicles carrying petroleum products, but information-based raids on warehouses and secret illegal storages and pumping stores of petroleum products.