Pakistan's Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has asked the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to share online data about letters of credit (L/Cs) with the customs authorities.

The FBR argues that the move will help apprehend people and companies that hide the real values of goods in order to evade duties and taxes.

Cooperation sought

Chairman of FBR, Ali Arshad Hakeem, has written a letter to the governor of SBP, Yasin Anwar, asking him to share online data related to import L/Cs.

The letter was apparently sent soon after the FBR arrested a person suspected of involvement in this kind of fraud.

Under-invoicing

The suspect allegedly declared a lower value on an imported goods declaration than the L/C value.

The FBR says it has been lobbying the SBP to share L/C data for several months in an attempt to crack down on what the tax collectors believe is a widespread problem.

Information sharing

Currently there is no mechanism for sharing L/C information between authorised banks and Pakistan's customs authorities, which is something the FBR wants to change.

The FBR is now suggesting that it should be made mandatory for authorised banks to insist that exporters sign a commercial invoice that can be inspected by customs officers and that clearly indicates the L/C details and value.

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