ISLAMABAD: Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has taken suo moto notice and initiated investigation in open sale of Iranian oil in Balochistan and tax evasion in the garb of agriculture tax.

The annual report 2018 issued by the office of FTO, stated that during the year the FTO proactively invoked powers to take action on own motion notices.

It said that own motion investigation was initiated in the phenomenon of open sale of Iranian petroleum products in Balochistan at the petrol pumps. Proceedings were in progress, it added.

Another own motion investigation was started in the phenomenon of tax evasion in the garb of agriculture tax. Since long, a large number of taxpayers have been showing a substantial portion of their income as agriculture income.

“As tax on agriculture income was a provincial subject, so they were paying income tax to Federal Board of Revenue, on the income declared other than agriculture sources.”

“While, at the same time they were not paying agriculture tax to the provinces,” the FTO report said, adding that on pointation by the FTO, the FBR had started sending notices to the defaulters.

The FTO in another own motion investigation of a case of smuggling of mobile phones, mis-declared as LED lights, and cleared through green channel of WeBOC system, was undertaken as a suo-moto case and suitable recommendations were made.