By Shahzad Paracha
ISLAMABAD: The tax department has found massive discrepancies in National Testing Service’s income tax and sales tax record.
According to information available with Pakistan Today, FBR Islamabad’s Directorate of Intelligence & Investigations (Inland Revenue) has examined the tax record (both income tax and sales tax) of NTS, and, after scrutiny of bank account and tax receipts, it found massive discrepancies. Afterwards, the officials have taken the record in their custody.
The information further revealed that NTS did not disclose their foreign currency accounts in their tax returns. Similarly, the records of directors are also under scrutiny, where sources of investment viz-a-viz their declarations are also found mismatching, for which separate proceedings are underway.
I&I clarified that section 175 of Income Tax Ordinance 2001 empowers the officers of Federal Board of Revenue to have full and free access to premises, place, accounts, documents, computers or any other inventory. The department once again reiterated that all the above actions are strictly in accordance with law and no illegality has been committed.
It is pertinent to mention here that FBR I&I wing raided on NTS premises on Monday, and confiscated the tax record and computers.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had told Senate that four of the five testing services in the country—the NTS, the Balochistan Testing Service, the Pakistan Testing Service and the Sindh Testing Service—had not paid taxes for the last three years, while the Universal Testing Services had paid Rs873 only in the year 2015.
As per law, NTS should be fined as much as they have return tax.If the countries testing bodies behave so badly they must have severe punished.
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