ISLAMABAD – Tax authorities have busted a network involved in smugglinggold to India by exploiting a facility that allows jewelers toimport/export the precious metal.
The authorities have revealed that a large number of exporters/importersused fake addresses for registration.
It was found that these traders were exporting artificial jewelry andsmuggling gold ornaments to India.
This has cost trillions to the national kitty so far because gold import isvery expensive in India due to high duties.
“High import duty of 10 percent in India is the main cause of smuggling ofgold from Pakistan to the neighboring country,” the source added.——————————
The officials at the Regional Tax Officer (RTO-II) Karachi also confirmedthe report.
Tax managers said the scheme allowed gold traders across the borders toimport and export a large amount of gold jewelry and ornaments.
After receiving credible information, the investigation department of theFederal Board of Revenue (FBR) swung into action and unearthed the traders’network that cost trillions in losses to the national exchequer.
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We still don’t know what action will be taken against them.——————————
A report of the Auditor General in 2016 had mentioned that similar goldsmuggling schemes had caused a substantial loss of Rs. 2.706 trillion tothe national kitty.
The tax managers have asked FBR to halt payments of this illegal tradethrough hawala/hundi.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has also asked the finance ministry toformalize the payment system to only allow payments through the interbankmarket.
Via: *The News*link
