FBR allows sealing of textile, spinning factories over system integration failures

Textile and spinning units that fail to connect with the Federal Board of Revenue's electronic monitoring system now face sealing of their premises by Inland Revenue officers, according to Profit by Pakistan Today. The procedure, notified on Thursday, forms part of a new enforcement framework aimed at tightening the tax authority's control over taxable goods.

Companies placed under the regime may have to give the FBR live insight into their output, sales, stock levels and clearances, rather than depending only on conventional returns. The board can draw on several tools, including production tracking systems, CCTV surveillance, video analytics and its digital eye platform, and can specify other tracking methods. Sealed premises can later be reopened through a process laid out in the same notification.

The scope is wider than textile and spinning units since registered persons, manufacturers and certain categories can be covered, along with goods listed in a Sales Tax Act schedule. Goods that move outside the monitoring framework or lack prescribed stamps, labels or barcodes can be seized and eventually confiscated, while vehicles carrying such goods can also be seized after adjudication.