ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to establish electronic data interfaces with different countries including the United Arab Emirates, European states, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Singapore to curb under-invoicing and tax evasion, officials said on Thursday.
The government has been struggling to combat incorrect declaration and under-assessment of goods by importers to evade customs duty. Importers usually change invoices in the connivance with government officials to pay minimal taxes while clearing their consignments from ports.
“The under-invoicing and tax evasion by importers run into millions of rupees annually and we want to curb it by coordinating other countries,” Dr. Hamid Ateeq Sarwar, Member Inland Revenue Policy at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), told Arab News.
Elaborating the plan, he said the electronic data interface with Afghanistan will be established by February this year and the project will then be extended to other countries as well in different phases.
“We don’t expect much to gain from Afghanistan as they don’t have the capacity to handle the imports and exports, but at least we will be able to find difference in invoices of importers if any of them attempts to alter them,” he said.
Sarwar said the FBR was planning to complete the project with the UAE, European countries and Singapore by June this year. “Once we are connected with the electronic data interface of a country, it will be almost impossible for importers to alter their invoices,” he said.
The cash-strapped South Asian nation has been struggling to increase its tax revenues by combating smuggling and under-invoicing by importers.
The country has suffered an economic loss of around $11 billion in terms of customs duties and withholding tax during 1972 to 2013 as the under-invoicing was recorded to be around $92.7 billion during the period, according to Mukarram Jah Ansari who is director-general valuation at the FBR.
Pakistan has been working closely with the World Customs Organization, an intergovernmental body headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, to sign agreements with other countries for electronic data interchange.
“We have been receiving very encouraging response from all the countries … numerous international organizations have been helping us to reform our tax system,” Sarwar said. “In today’s age, all the countries have open economies and it is in their interest as well to sign such mutual pacts.”
On the other hand, importers and businessmen have welcomed the move, hoping it will help discourage smuggling of the goods and boost genuine imports and business in the country.
“Once the smuggling and under-invoicing of the imported goods is stopped effectively, we will witness a competition among genuine importers which will boost the economy and increase revenue collection,” Anjum Nisar, chairman Pakistan Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Importers’ Association, told Arab News.
Pakistan to coordinate with UAE, Europe to curb under-invoicing, tax evasion
https://arab.news/6cxbs
Pakistan to coordinate with UAE, Europe to curb under-invoicing, tax evasion
- The project will make it ‘almost impossible’ for importers to alter invoices, say FBR officials
- Importers welcome the move, saying it will boost economy and increase tax collection
Cross-border clash breaks out between Pakistan and Afghanistan amid rising tensions
- Border residents say exchange of fire in the Chaman border sector lasted nearly two hours
- Both governments issue competing statements blaming the other for initiating the violence
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan witnessed yet another border clash, according to officials in both countries who spoke in the early hours of Saturday, with each side accusing the other of launching “unprovoked” attacks.
Fighting erupted in Pakistan’s southwestern Chaman border sector, with an AFP report saying that residents on the Afghan side of the frontier reported the exchange of fire began at around 10:30 p.m. (1800 GMT) and continued for roughly two hours.
The incident underscored how tensions remain high between the neighbors, who have seen deadly clashes in recent months despite several rounds of negotiations mediated by Qatar and Türkiye that resulted in a tenuous truce in October.
“There has been unprovoked firing by Afghan Taliban elements in the Chaman Sector which is a reckless act that undermines border stability and regional peace,” said a Pakistani security official on condition of anonymity.
“Pakistani troops responded with precision, reinforcing that any violation of our territorial integrity will be met with immediate and decisive action,” he continued.
The official described Pakistan’s response as “proportionate and calibrated” that showed “professionalism even in the face of aggression.”
“The Chaman Sector exchange once again highlights the need for Kabul to rein in undisciplined border elements whose actions are destabilizing Afghanistan’s own international standing,” he added.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have grown increasingly bitter since the Taliban seized power in Kabul following the withdrawal of international forces in August 2021.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban administration of sheltering anti-Pakistan militant groups such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which have carried out deadly attacks in its western provinces bordering Afghanistan, targeting civilians and security forces.
The Taliban deny the charge, saying Pakistan’s internal security challenges are its own responsibility.
The Pakistani security official said his country remained “committed to peaceful coexistence, but peace cannot be one-sided.”
“Attempts to pressure Pakistan through kinetic adventurism have repeatedly failed and will continue to fail,” he said. “The Chaman response has reaffirmed that message unmistakably.”
He added that Pakistan’s security forces were fully vigilant and that responsibility for any escalation “would solely rest with those who initiated unprovoked fire.”
Mosharraf Zaidi, spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister, also commented on the clashes in a social media post, saying the Afghan Taliban had “resorted to unprovoked firing along the border.”
“An immediate, befitting and intense response has been given by our armed forces,” he wrote.
https://x.com/mosharrafzaidi/status/1997025600775786654?s=46&t=JVxikSd5wyl9Y96OwifS5A
Afghan authorities, however, blamed Pakistan for the hostilities.
“Unfortunately, tonight, the Pakistani side started attacking Afghanistan in Kandahar, Spin Boldak district, and the forces of the Islamic Emirate were forced to respond,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on X.
https://x.com/zabehulah_m33/status/1997018198508818891?s=48&t=x28vcP-XUuQ0CWAu-biScA
Border clashes that began in October have killed dozens of people on both sides.
The latest incident comes amid reports of back-channel discussions between the two governments, although neither has publicly acknowledged such talks.
