FBR gets its hands on lists of bank accounts owned by Pakistanis in 26 countries

The FBR has obtained lists of accounts owned by Pakistani citizens in 26 countries and will be going after them for tax evasion. The authority is working to uncover people who have undeclared assets abroad. It could even have their offshore accounts frozen. Its jurisdiction has been extended to recover tax from these people and it will be taxing these accounts. On January 16, sources in the FBR confirmed that 50,000 foreign bank accounts have been traced that are being held by Pakistanis in Spain, Italy, France, Germany and other countries. Related: FBR traces 50,000 foreign bank accounts owned by Pakistanis During an October 14 press conference, the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said that no international asset tracing cases were lodged the past 15 years. Coordination with overseas law enforcement agencies will be improved to see where the money goes, Akbar had said. The lists of accounts from these 26 countries are part of this same drive to ‘bring back the country’s looted wealth’ as the PTI calls it.