FBR to Depute Officials at Sugar Mills to Monitor Production With Crushing Set to Begin

After certain instances of misuse of the track-and-trace system, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to depute Inland Revenue officials at all sugar mills in Punjab and Sindh to monitor production, sales, and clearance of the commodity during crushing season.  In this regard, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered strict action against sugar mill owners and dealers along with CCTV surveillance to prevent hoarding and price manipulation.  With sugar crushing season scheduled to begin on November 21 (tomorrow), the prime minister directed has FBR, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) to take joint action against sugar mills and dealers involved in tax evasion, undocumented sales, and price hikes in sugar sector.  Following the directives by the prime minister to tighten the noose around the sugar mafias, a notification was issued directing FBR, FIA and IB to ensure prevention of sales tax evasion in sugar industry.  The officers of the Inland Revenue Service (IRS) would be posted to monitor the production, sale, and stock position of all taxable goods under section 40B of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, at the manufacturing/business premises.   Earlier, the government relied on the industry’s statistics for sugar production. However, after the introduction of the track and trace system, the FBR is getting real-time data on the sugar production of each sugar mill.  The cameras will monitor the production process and stockpiling of sugar, ensuring GST payments are made and price hikes are prevented.