Lahore : Dec 1 : The federal government has launched a crackdown against the sugar mills in Punjab and Sindh for stealing sales tax of billions of rupees annually.
The crackdown against sugar mills in Punjab and Sindh has been jointly undertaken by the special task force corned under Section 40 of the FBR comprising the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the law enforcing agencies. The Federal government decided to launch crackdown against the sugar mills in Punjab and Sindh .
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in its report disclosed that the sugar mills in Punjab and Sindh were involved in massive money laundering . The report suggested that FIA has completed monitoring of the accounts of the sugar millers and it is likely to be followed by arrests of those millers who are involved in sales tax evasion and money laundering .
The sugar industry is always in the center of the tax evasion allegations . Sales tax evasion and that too in billions of rupees is a perpetual issue. Sugar millers are not only party to tax evasion .
The FBR and Provincial Cane Commissioners are also main party to tax evasion . It’s not possible for the sugar millers to indulge in tax evasion without collusion of FBR authorities and Provincial Cane Commissioners . The millers buy sugarcane out of the mills on the main road and then use this crushing for tax evasion but neither FBR nor Provincial Cane Commissioners take any action to stop this illegal sugarcane procurement . This is a simple proof that three characters –sugar millers , FBR officials and concerned Cane Commissioners –are equal partners to tax tax evasion of sugar industry.