KARACHI: Shipping agents have demanded the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to form taskforce / joint investigation team (JIT) to eliminate the menace of under / over invoicing, mis-declaration and smuggling in Pakistan.
In a letter to the chairman of FBR Syed Muhammad Shabbar Zaidi, the Pakistan Ship’s Agents Association (PSAA) congratulated the chairman for his appointment as chief of the national tax collecting agency.
The association said that the menace of smuggling was causing massive losses to the exchequer and also resulting in bad name of the country.
“It is everybody’s knowledge that none of these nefarious activities can be carried out without facilitators/go-betweens,” the association said.
“We believe that some of these facilitator types have FIRs already registered against them they should be fully investigated / dormant files should be revived.”
“FBR should appoint a taskforce / JIT to address this issue on a war footing and all these culprits should be vigorously be pursued, caught and prosecuted.”
The association said that customs intelligence, FIA, all border authorities, ministry of interior etc should all form special JIT to finish off this menace under the direct monitoring of the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
The association further said that such types of facilitators were the enemies of the economy of the country. “We have also requested all our members from the maritime sector to keep a special watch for such facilitators and report immediately to concerned authorities.”
