Rs310b annual tax evasion by five sectors
National
May 27, 2021
ISLAMABAD: Tax evasion and illegal trade in five sectors - tea, tyres & auto lubricants, pharmaceuticals, illicit cigarettes and real estate - are inflicting a whopping annual loss of Rs 310bn to the country’s exchequer.
The annual loss to the national kitty because of tax evasion in the tea industry was estimated to stand at Rs35b; in the tyres and auto-lubricants industry Rs90b; in the pharmaceutical industry Rs 45bn; in the illegal tobacco trade Rs80b;; and in the real estate sector to be Rs60b, says a research paper by IPSOS, which is headquartered in Paris and has a direct presence in 90 major markets with operations in 120 countries.
OICCI calls for radical steps to check tax evasion
National
May 2, 2021
ISLAMABAD: The Overseas International Chamber of Commerce and Industries (OICCI) has recommended to the finance teams working on the upcoming budget 2021-22 for seizure of local assets or levy appropriate taxes if any person holds any assets abroad.
The OICCI top office bearers, who held a meeting with Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin and his economic team and recommended for bringing illicit trade into tax ambit especially tax evaded cigarettes that could fetch Rs 70 billion for the national kitty per annum, revising Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA) and registering all income earners into the tax net. “Appropriate laws should be drafted to enable the government to seize local assets, in equivalent value, or levy appropriate taxes, if any person holds any assets outside the country without justified source of income,” the OICCI recommended to the government. The Overseas Investors Chamber of Comm
Tobacco companies accused of tax evasion
National
April 20, 2021
Islamabad: The multinational tobacco companies have been trying to evade millions of rupees in taxes under a pretext of exaggerated illicit trade of the product in the country, reveals a study.
The Center for Global and Strategic Studies [CGSS] has conducted a research study, “Illicit Trade in Tobacco: A Dossier on Contributing Factors and its Global Implications,” to expose the connection between the alleged illicit trade and tax evasion by the multinational tobacco companies.
The study said that the companies were using the illegal trade as a smokescreen to avoid taxation and implement international commitments.