ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) began sending letters to over 600 Pakistanis named in the Panama Papers for owning offshore companies
“This week we began the process of sending letters to hundreds of Pakistanis who have been named in Panama Papers,” said spokesperson FBR Dr Mohammad Iqbal.
In April this year, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published a fraction of data leaked under the Panama Papers, naming about 640 Pakistanis who own offshore companies.
The FBR spokesperson said that letters have been sent under Section 176 of the Income Tax Ordinance, which empowers tax officials to seek information about any transaction. However, the penalty for not giving information under Section 176 is only Rs25,000 with no other severe punishments attached.
