FBR issues notices in Omni Group, other cases

KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued notices in Benami properties in at least 11 cases, mostly belonging to Omni Group and nominated in Joint Investigation Team (JIT), sources said on Thursday.

The sources said the notices had been issued by Regional Tax Office (RTO)-II, Karachi to Benamidars in connection with owned properties, the real beneficiaries of which were different.

An official at RTO-II Karachi said the notices had been sent to persons possessing properties, which included immovable properties, bank accounts and shares in stocks.

The official said the FBR headquarters had transferred the cases for RTO-II for initiating proceedings.

“The notices were sent on the basis of definite information,” the official said.

The official was reluctant to reveal the tax amount involved in those notices; however, some other sources said the quantum of tax would be around Rs1.5 - 2 billion.

The official confirmed that around six notices were related to Omni group, where nominated persons had admitted to having Benami properties.

The official said benamidars had been given the opportunity to respond. In case the notices were not responded to or the reply was unsatisfactory, the properties would be seized, the official added.

When asked how an initiating officer would seize

Benami properties when adjudicating authority or dedicated federal tribunal was not set up so far, the official said

since Benami Prohibition Act, 2017 had been implemented through the issuance of rules, which were notified by the FBR

recently, an official can initiate proceedings in Benami

cases.

The official further said the government would soon notify establishment of the federal tribunal to hear appeal cases against orders issued by officers of Inland Revenue.

One of the notices made available to The News showed that the FBR asked a person to explain the source of income to purchase immovable property in Gulzar e Hijri, Karachi worth Rs110 million.

The official said the person, whom the notice has been sent to, was the Benamidar and the actual owner was different.

Similarly, a notice was issued in a case of shares of a cement company, where the investor was different from the real beneficial owner, the official added.

Sources said the FBR headquarters was to transfer a

huge bunch of Benami cases by this week for further

proceedings.