ISLAMABAD: Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Commerce and Textile Senator Shabli Faraz has asked Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Member Customs Jawwad Awais Agha to submit comprehensive report regarding measures taken to curb under invoicing within next 10 days.
Sources told Customs Today that according to a report around $10 to $12 billion under-invoicing per year have been reported via imports while $4 to $5 billion under invoicing has reported just from China, it added that the customs department is developing a database containing values of tradable items to eliminate the practice of under-invoicing.
A comprehensive review of import valuations is necessary to stop under invoicing, the sources informed that Directorate General of Reforms and Automation has already developed software for exchange of trade data on real time basis, the country planned to deploy the system for its neighboring China with which trade deficit reported nearly $10 billion in last FY17-18.
Protocol for electronic data interchange (EDI) should be agreed with all the main trading partners to stop an estimated annual under-invoicing of huge amount which caused loss for national exchequers.