KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) sealed off central office ofShaheen Air in Karachi on Thursday, over non-payment of Rs910 million inFederal Excise Duty (FED).
According to the revenue authority, the office was ordered to be reopenedafter the private airline provided it with two cheques worth Rs910 million.
Prior to that, the central office of the airline was sealed off after talksbetween FBR officials and Shaheen Air administration failed in the evening.
While sealing off the office, a heated argument took place between theairline’s chief security officer and FBR officials.
A spokesman for the airlines said that it was under pressure by the FBRwith regard to payment of tax, and the revenue authority had refused toaccept cheques from the airline.
The issue erupted because of Eid holidays, the spokesman added.
He further said that Shaheen Air was a law-abiding enterprise and it wasaware of its responsibilities being the largest private airlines of thecountry.
The flight schedule and all operations of Shaheen Air were ongoing as perroutine, the spokesman added.
Earlier in May, the FBR had asked Civil Aviation Authority to suspend localflight operations of Shaheen Air over failure to pay the FED, *The Newslink>*reported.