ISLAMABAD: On the pattern of the UK’s HMRS (Her Majesty Revenue and Customs) probing the Panama Leaks, Pakistan’s tax authorities on Wednesday decided to write letters to the authors of the Panama papers to share information on the basis of which the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) intends to issue tax notices to those 200 owners of offshore companies who will be found to be tax dodgers.
FBR Chairman Nisar Muhammad Khan on Wednesday chaired a high-level internal meeting for devising a strategy after getting instructions from the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue to move ahead. Now the FBR would seek permission from Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar to proceed against 200 individuals who own offshore companies in accordance with the disclosures made through the Panama Leaks.
The UK’s HMRC confirmed that they receive information from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) for getting the required material in case the probing UK personalities owned offshore companies in tax havens.
HMRC Director General Enforcement and Compliance Jennie Grainger said they had approached the ICIJ for access to the material.
“HMRC can confirm that we have already received a great deal of information on offshore companies, including in Panama, from a wide range of sources, which is currently the subject of intensive investigation,” she said.
“We have asked the ICIJ to share the leaked data that they have obtained with us. We will closely examine this data and will act on it swiftly and appropriately.”
When contacted, the FBR’s spokesperson confirmed that different options were under consideration to finalise steps for initiating a probe into Panama Leaks. When the decision will be made, it will be shared with the media, he added.
However, the sources said that the FBR after holding detailed deliberations decided to write a letter to Umar Cheema, senior journalist affiliated with The News, and other authors of ICIJ of Panama Leaks, for requesting them to share information about those individuals who owned offshore companies in different parts of the world.
After getting the information, in the second step, the FBR will ascertain whether these individuals filed their returns in the last six taxable years or not. In case of resident Pakistanis and filing of tax returns, it will be determined whether they declared offshore companies owned by them or not.
Then the FBR will dispatch them tax notices to inquire them about their stance that in case of non-declaration of offshore companies why they did so.
The FBR, the sources said, has been facing legal hitches because the country did not have taxation agreements with tax havens such as Panama and other states. In order to create minimum deterrence, the FBR will issue tax notices where it can prove tax evasion in court of law. The government has not yet finalised the name of person for heading the inquiry commission to probe complex tax trails of those who owned the offshore companies.
There are officers into the fold of tax machinery who possess expertise in the area of investigating money laundering and its linkages with tax evasion. So if right kind of persons are assigned the job for undertaking investigation, the exact trail and culprits can be apprehended but it requires a will on the part of the ruling elite.