FBR crackdown on illegal tobacco cigarettes, which are worth PKR 180 million, in the combat against illegal tobacco trades and to maintain tax compliance. The operation was conducted by RTO (Regional Tax Office) Rawalpindi, supervised by Tehmina Aamer, the chief commissioner, on the direction of Aqeel Ahmed, the chief coordinator of IREN (Inland Revenue Enforcement Network). They destroyed non-duty-paid and counterfeit cigarettes. The tax and duty totaled PKR 150 million.
The joint destruction resulted in the confiscation of the cigarettes under Act 29 of the Federal Excise Duty Rules, 2005. They claimed that the destruction was necessary under Act 30 of the Federal Excise Duty Rules, 2005. The destruction was made in Nakodar, Dina Jhelum, which shows no harm to the public and was taken under Section 27(1) and Section 19(10) of the Federal Excise Duty, 2005.
The action was done in the presence of Tehmina Aamer, chief commissioner; Mazhar Iqbal, commissioner IR Jhelum Zone; Riaz Khan, additional commissioner HQ and regional coordinator IREN; and Shujaat Ali Khan, assistant director of audit. The media and official witnesses were also present on the spot to ensure full transparency and accountability.
The initiatives seem to reflect FBR’s commitments to erase tax evasion and dismantle networks that are found to be involved in the sale and production of unpaid-tax and counterfeit tobacco cigarette products.
