Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has again warned traders to refrain from mis-declaring invoices on imported goods. Chairman of the bureau Shabbar Zaidi sent a clear message to the business community via a statement which said that the traders must not exercise under or over-invoicing practices, or involve in trade of smuggled goods, otherwise due disciplinary action would be taken against the involved. “Any importers, their clearing agents, and the delinquent staff found involved in such practices shall be liable to punitive action under the law,”, the statement said. Subject action to be taken against the involved is proposed under section 32C of the Customs Act – 1969 and its allied laws.
The statement further stated that “Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken a very serious notice of the situation and has ordered a number of measures to cleanse the society from the menace of smuggling.”.
The matter was raised earlier in June this year when the chairman had directed the concerned authorities to identify the extent of mis-declarations and those involved in it. Customs Operations wing was asked to submit a detailed report on the subject matter and a risk-based system was directed to be developed to counter this issue.
With the exercise of this malpractice, imports practice under invoicing to save taxes and duties, whereas exporters also under and overstate invoices for personal advantages. Export cargo is under invoiced to receive lesser funds in Pakistan and the other chunk is settled in abroad, while over-invoicing in exports is allegedly used for laundering funds.
Zaidi emphasized that no one should be involved in dealing of smuggled goods and said that “whosoever is found involved in any way dealing with the sale, purchase or storage of the same will be dealt with strictly”.