Data of non-filers being collected by FBR, PAC told

ISLAMABAD: The Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Tariq Bajwa, on Tuesday told a sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee that the Bureau was acquiring information about those who did not submit tax returns from different sources to access their income.
“The data of the rich who frequently conducted foreign trips, and their utility bills, children’s school fees and expenses incurred on the education of their children at foreign universities is being collected to get information about their wealth,” he told the PAC sub-committee meeting chaired by Sardar Aashiq Gopang.
The meeting reviewed the audit paras relating to the FBR for the year 2007-08.The chairman of the FBR said the scope of the hidden and black economy had widened in the country.The sub-committee directed the FBR to install biometric system in the offices of the FBR and its attached departments to ensure presence of the employees.
The chairman of the FBR told the committee that biometric system had been installed in the FBR and most of its offices while it would be installed in the remaining offices soon.
The committee also directed the FBR to get the assistance of the commercial banks to eliminate the black economy.While examining the audit paras relating to the FBR, the audit officials told the committee that the FBR sustained a loss of millions of rupees for not conducting auction of confiscated vehicles.
A member of the committee, Dr Azra Fazal Pechuhu, observed that the confiscated vehicles which were in good condition were sold at lower prices.The chairman of FBR told the committee that the auction process of the confiscated vehicles was conducted in a transparent manner through open bids. The committee directed the FBR to auction the confiscated vehicles while distributing into different categories rather than in lots.