Independent tax probes by FIA questioned

A Senate committee has questioned the legal basis for the Federal Investigation Agency to run independent tax inquiries, a task that falls under the Federal Board of Revenue, according to Dawn. The panel asked both bodies to set up a coordinated working mechanism to prevent their jurisdictions from overlapping. Its meeting on Tuesday also covered a sub-committee report on tax evasion and smuggling in the former Fata and Pata regions.

The report put the value of trade malpractice and evasion by factories in the tax-exempt areas of Fata, Pata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at over Rs1,120bn, and flagged an estimated $1 billion yearly loss to the exchequer. Members also criticised the FIR, which named only low-ranking officials over the stolen 2,828 cartons of seized cigarettes kept in FBR warehouses. Lawmakers asked why drivers were arrested while factory owners went free, and scrutiny of warehouse protocols revealed missing CCTV cameras, absent inventory ledgers and unverified handovers.

The committee formed a new sub-committee to probe the tax evasion network further and gave the FBR and FIA one month to submit inquiry reports with verified physical stock registers. Separately, the panel reviewed passport rules on emergency travel documents for stranded Pakistanis, and the chairman raised delays in verification and complaints about embassies issuing passports for shorter validity periods.