Alert in fake recovery notices issued

KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued alert against fake recovery notices by unscrupulous elements to various taxpayers for recovery of taxes.

The FBR advised taxpayers not to pay heed to such fake notices, as unscrupulous persons could take key information of a taxpayer including the bank account details.

Badaruddin Ahmed Qureshi, chief commissioner, Inland Revenue, Regional Tax Office (RTO)-II Karachi said that complaints were received about fraudulent activities of fake notices.

Qureshi advised the taxpayers to ensure that they should ensure barcode on any income tax notice. “No tax department is authorised to issue notices without a barcode,” he said.

On one of the fake notices received by a taxpayer, the fraudsters used logos of FBR and RTO and also mentioned relevant provisions of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 to make it authentic.

The fake notice was sent through government postal service. The notice also provided details of taxpayers including NTN and bank accounts.

The notice also carried another correspondence made with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to freeze bank account of the subject taxpayer in case of recovery failure.

It is pertinent to mention that the FBR offices only issue notice to bank branch in cases to make recovery through freezing bank accounts.

The chief commissioner said the FBR had initiated investigation to identify culprits behind fake notices. He further said that any collusion of tax officials in such cases would result in harsh action.