FBR freezes, releases PIA accounts

KARACHI: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Tuesday unfroze the bank accounts of Pakistan International Airline (PIA) following a high-level meeting between its chairman Dr Muhammad Ashfaq and PIA CEO Air Marshal Arshad Malik.
As per details, a high-level meeting took place between FBR chief Dr Muhammad Ashfaq and PIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Air Marshal Arshad Malik after the tax collection body had frozen all bank accounts of cash-strapped national flag carrier over Rs4.50 billion outstanding payments.
According to the PIA spokesperson, an understanding was reached between the top officials of both departments after the national flag carrier assured the tax collection body of clearing all pending dues.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had frozen all bank accounts of cash-strapped Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) over Rs4.50 billion outstanding payments.
Sources within the tax collection body told that the national airline has not paid the federal excise duty (FED) that it collected on tickets over the past two years. They said the FBR froze as many as 50 accounts of the national flag carrier across the country and recovered an amount of Rs465 million against the total outstanding payment of Rs4.5 billion, they revealed.
The sources said the accounts would remain frozen until the entire outstanding amount is recovered.