Property buyers''/sellers'' data: DG I&I IR contacts thousands of housing cooperative societies

The Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation, Inland Revenue has contacted thousands of cooperative housing societies, authorities and housing schemes to obtain data of buyers and sellers of property for documentation of persons engaged in such business transactions.
Sources told Business Recorder here on Sunday that the cooperative housing societies and housing schemes are the important source of information to document persons engaged in buying and selling of plots or houses. Such housing schemes have maintained the property records of buyers and sellers, which could be obtained to check the status of persons engaged in property transactions. The intelligence arm of the FBR is also collecting vital information about urban properties from the provincial excise and taxation departments.
According to sources, the agency would primarily focus on the tax status of persons who are frequently engaged in property transaction in these cooperative housing societies and housing schemes. The documentation of businessmen engaged in property business would also be detected during the exercise being conducted at national level.
It is learnt that Shahid Hussain Asad, Director General, Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation, Inland Revenue has decided to focus on information retrieved from these cooperative housing societies and housing schemes for documentation of persons engaged in purchase/selling of properties, but operating out of the tax net.
The FBR has issued instructions to the Chief Commissioners of Regional Tax Offices of Islamabad and Rawalpindi for compliance.
According to the FBR instructions to the field formations, 129 cases of cooperative housing societies/schemes doing business in Rawalpindi and Islamabad area have been communicated by the directorate of intelligence IR. As per RTOs respective Monthly Performance Report (MPR) for the month of June 2011, RTO Islamabad has said that 79 cases fall within its jurisdiction, whereas RTO Rawalpindi admitted 23 cases as falling within its jurisdiction. Four cases with incomplete addresses were reported back to this Directorate General. Five cases were transferred to the Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) Islamabad and one to RTO Gujranwala by RTO Islamabad on point of jurisdiction.
As is evident, the number of cases accepted by RTO Islamabad and Rawalpindi do not tally with the number of cases communicated by this Directorate General even if margin is allowed for the number of cases transferred. No list of the cases accepted as falling within their jurisdiction has been provided by either of the RTO''s to enable the Directorate General to sort out the discrepancy.
It has been further pointed out that even otherwise no progress has been shown in these cases so far. In view of this, it is requested that the field formations should complete list of cases falling within respective jurisdictions and provide necessary information to directorate of Intelligence IR so that the issue of the jurisdiction of the remaining cases could be sorted out.
The progress report may be provided regarding the action taken so far in these cases. The progress report should specify the actual position such as Notice issued along with number and date, return filed/enforced, action taken u/s122 of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001, FBR''s instructions added.