PM forms special committee to probe 'arrest' of tax defaulters

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Monday took notice of media reports regarding the arrest of tax defaulters and issued strict instructions that no such legal amendments should be used to harass the business community or taxpayers under any circumstances.

The prime minister directed the formation of a special committee on this matter. The prime minister chaired a review meeting of matters related to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.

The prime minister was briefed that the legal provisions for the arrest of sales tax defaulters had been part of the law since the 1990s, however, in the light of decisions by the courts, amendments were being made to these clauses to make them more coherent.

The meeting was attended by the Ministers for Defence, Law, Commerce, Economic Affairs, Information and Broadcasting, Minister of State for Railways, Chairman FBR, economic experts, and senior officials.

After thoroughly reviewing the matter, the prime minister opined that harassing regular taxpayers was unacceptable.

“The respect and dignity of the business community and investors is of utmost importance to us and any unjustified harassment is intolerable,” the press release quoted the prime minister as saying.

PM Shehbaz further instructed that the mandate of arrest under relevant tax laws should be limited only to cases involving defaulters of an extraordinary scale.

The prime minister also directed that an effective system of external review and checks and balances be put in place regarding arrests.

Provisions related to protection against misuse of these laws should be included in the Finance Act, he further observed. PM Shehbaz directed that all allied parties of the government in the parliament should be consulted on this matter.