Irregularities in tax machinery: Senate panel tells FBR to submit report

The Senate Standing Committee on Interior on Saturday directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to submit a detailed report on irregularities in the tax machinery, otherwise the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) will be asked to probe the alleged corruption.
The committee, which met with Senator Talha Mehmood in the chair at the Parliament House, also directed the FBR to activate its intelligence department and plug the loopholes to ensure large amount of recovery. Committee member Senator Tahir Hussain Mashadi said that only poor people were paying taxes whereas the rich always manage to evade the tax managers. He asked the FBR to chalk out an effective strategy to tax the rich class and strive hard to eradicate corruption.
The FBR officials, earlier, informed the committee that an inquiry is underway against an intelligence wing official of Karachi who was illegally using an imported vehicle owned by a citizen. They said that the matter was decided by a local court and the vehicle now has been returned to the original owner after intervention of the court.
DG FIA Wasim Ahmed told the committee that the FIA had arrested Munaf Kalia and Javed Khanani in a money laundering case but despite handsome evidence the two used huge amount of money and are again roaming scot-free. He also informed the committee that Prime Minister''s son Abdul Qadir Gilani had paid Rs 80 million on account of tax on import of his bullet-proof vehicle and the no-objection certificate (NOC) was issued by Ministry of Interior.
The committee also directed cancellation of allotment of all agri-farms in Islamabad that are not being used for the sole purpose for which allotments were made to the people dislocated from the area instead many influential like former president Pervez Musharraf have purchased the land to built farmhouse - a status symbol.
During the course of proceedings, committee member Haji Adeel pointed out that chairman of the Committee Senator Talha Mehmood and Chairman Capital Development Authority (CDA) Imtiaz Inayat also own agri-farms and asked the two also to explain their positions.
Senator Talha admitted saying that he was paying Rs 800 million taxes annually on account of various businesses, adding that he was not drawing salary from the government and other privileges as chairman of the standing committee. The chairman CDA also said that he does not own a farmhouse. Meanwhile, the committee also sought details from the CDA regarding allotment of 3,194 plots in various posh sectors of the federal capital worth Rs 60-70 billion during the tenure of former chairman Kamran Lashari. He directed CDA to submit a detailed report pertaining to these plots and also the criterion under which allotments were made in the settled sectors.
The committee also sought the allotment details of hotels and restaurants in Saidpur Village, Islamabad. Committee member Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari snubbed DG FIA Wasim Ahmed asking him to behave, "You are sitting before the parliamentary panel and you should know how to behave," Bokhari asked the DG FIA during the proceedings.
The committee also recommended to the interior ministry to fill all the vacant posts in the FIA and bring the salaries of its officials at par with provincial police. The committee was informed that currently the total strength of the FIA is 3,721 out of which 1,032 posts are vacant. When the committee asked the DG FIA that why these vacancies were not filled he said that the main cause was political influence due to which these vacancies were not announced.
The DG FIA also told the panel that some 22 inquiries of 2011 and seven of 2009, being conducted by the agency, were still pending and the final reports of all these would be submitted to the committee till end of next month. The committee also directed interior ministry to fill all the vacant posts in Islamabad Police. Nayyar Bokhari said that Islamabad police are regional police and persons with domiciles of Federal Capital should be appointed on the vacant posts. He further said that holders of Islamabad domiciles were not being accepted for granting jobs in any province, therefore, he suggested that local people should be appointed.