Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has finalized a plan for launching an operation against tax evasion across Pakistan.
According to media reports, the FBR has prepared a list of more than 11,000 industrialists, traders and real estate dealers in major cities including Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad for further scrutiny.
FBR will issue notices to tax evaders/defaulters for producing required documents and proofs within a week.
Failure to satisfy FBR could result in the imposition of heavy fines and even arrests.
As per surveys, the public exchequer is deprived of more than Rs950 billion annually due to tax evasion in different sectors of the economy including real estate, tea, cigarettes, tyres, oil and pharmaceuticals.
The largest tax evasion is in the real estate sector which is more than Rs500 billion.
Similarly, tax evasion in cigarette manufacturing and trade is Rs240b, tyres Rs106b, pharmaceutical Rs65b and tea Rs45b.
