Big tax defaulters: FBR to auction off properties, trademarks

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for the first time has decided to sell/ auction the copyrights/ trademarks and movable/ immovable properties of business brands of big tax defaulters for recovery of tax dues.

Sources told Business Recorder that the Directorate General of Intelligence & Investigation (Inland Revenue) along with the efforts of the regional tax department have taken the initiative to recover tax dues by auctioning the trademarks and copyrights of the products, for which the FBR determined the tax liability of Rs.570 million against a cosmetic company.

To initiate recovery proceedings, the assets of the board of directors of the company would be auctioned, as well as all the trademarks acquired in the name of the company.

In this connection, the Corporate Regional Tax Office Lahore has written a detailed letter to the Director General of the Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan (IPO), seeking details about the trademarks and copyrights and other movable properties of the said company (Messers Forvil Cosmetics Pvt Ltd).

The FBR has informed the Director General of Copyrights and Trademarks, Patents and Design Intellectual Property of Pakistan (IPO) that tax dues of Rs 570 million including penalty and default surcharge are recoverable from the defaulters of the said cosmetic company under section 48 (i) (e) of the Sales Tax Act, 1990.

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The tax department has declared the trademark as an asset and sought the details including current status of all other copyrights and trademarks of this company, including Bio Amla, a trademark registered in the name of the company and its board of directors.

A formal opinion was taken from the department in which the legal team confirmed that the trademarks or copyrights that constitute financial goodwill fall under the category of movable property, sources said.

The Registrar of the IPO was also informed to block the transfer, sales, and sub-lease of their copyrights trademarks and designs of the said tax defaulters.

The CRTO Lahore has further communicated to the Director General Intellectual Property Organisation Pakistan Islamabad to intimate the present status of the trademarks, copyright, and design of these defaulters by December 12, 2022, enabling the department to proceed further in the matter, CRTO Lahore added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022