ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) Benami Office has transactions of billions of rupees during its scrutiny of Hunza Sugar Mills and Alliance Sugar Mills’ accounts. According to information available with Pakistan Today, the Benazmi Zone II in Lahore was investigating five sugar mills and summoned the owners with the most declared sales tax to ascertain buyers’ registration status. However, due to logistical limitations and narrow timelines involved in the proceedings, detailed scrutiny was limited to two sugar mills initially; namely, Alliance Sugar Mills and Hunza Sugar Mills. Officials told Pakistan Today that show-cause notices under Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act, 2017, have been served upon Hunza Sugar Mills and Alliance Sugar Mills. A perusal of the sales tax returns of Alliance Sugar Mills and Hunza Sugar Mills showed that sugar worth Rs19.1 billion and Rs516 million, respectively, for tax years 2017-2020, had been sold by mills to unregistered persons.

Source: Pakistan Today October 28, 2020 16:52 UTC