A Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) tax office has conducted an electronic audit of property registrars in Punjab and unearthed withholding taxes evasion of billions, which were collected on property transactions but have yet to be deposited in the national kitty.
The FBR’s tax office in Sargodha has busted an organised gang of property registrars, revenue officers and lawyers in Punjab, who failed to deposit, deducted withholding taxes on buying and selling of immovable properties of billions.
The FBR’s first ever electronic tax audit of immovable properties unearthed a massive revenue loss by sub-registrars of properties. So far, the Regional Tax Office (RTO) Sargodha has recovered over Rs 388 million from the defaulters. The digital audit of withholding taxes in real estate sector exposed the organised fraud being committed in connivance with the buyers/ sellers of properties using fake challans.
The Regional Tax Office (RTO) Sargodha has unearthed a unique tax fraud involving property registrars and others, who caused revenue loss of billions by retaining deducted withholding taxes on immovable property transactions. The withholding tax collection on immovable properties is a major revenue contributor in the FBR’s direct taxes collection.