Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday said that the additional powers granted to the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) had nothing to do with income tax.

The expanded enforcement powers for the FBR include the authority to block high-value financial transactions by non-filers — such as vehicle and property purchases, investment in securities and mutual funds, and opening certain prestigious bank accounts — along with powers to seal unregistered business premises, confiscate goods and recover taxes from firms, including those in the public sector. The move has generated criticism from many quarters.

Addressing the matter in a press conference in Karachi today, Aurangzeb said, “I think there is something to understand about what the existing law was at the time. The first thing to understand is that it has no relation to income tax. This whole issue is a sales tax fraud issue.”

The finance minister added that in the original law, Inland Revenue Service officers had the authority to arrest, and it was the opinion of the government that additional safeguards should be developed in this regard.

He described the lengthy process of taking this bill into the standing committees and the “detailed discussions” on each clause in the Senate finance committee, the National Assembly and finally the parliament before its approval, including feedback from the Pakistan Bar Council’s vice chairman.

Aurangzeb requested that people read........

© Dawn Business