The joint team of AJK Pajak and the Department of Revenue and Police have intensified operations against tax evasion in the AJK tobacco sector.
According to the details, on the order of the Prime Minister of AJK, measures are being implemented against tax evasion from tobacco factories in the AJK area.
In this connection, raids were conducted in warehouses and various offices of National Tobacco Company, Walton Tobacco Company and Chinar Tobacco Company in Mirpur, Bhimber and Barnala.
The warehouse of Walton Tobacco Company was raided on Wednesday evening with DSP Naseer Ahmed Commando IRO Interior Muhammad Shakeel. Authorities raided a warehouse on Barnala Road in Bhimber and seized tobacco raw materials including 3,230 bags of tobacco, 45 cartons of filter paper, 504 cartons of filters, 90 cartons of Express cigarettes, 31 cartons of Hero cigarettes and 33 cartons of Grace cigarettes. . Authorities later sealed the warehouse and filed a case against the owner and manager of the warehouse.
In another incident, government agencies raided the warehouse of Bhimber National Tobacco Company and confiscated 3,811 cartons of illegal cigarettes and 384,000 kg of raw tobacco.
Similarly, in the raid at Walton Tobacco Company, government authorities confiscated 10 cartons of illegal cigarettes, 10 bags of tobacco and 19 rolls of cigarette paper and other related materials for the production of 100 million cigarettes.
In another operation, authorities raided a house rented by the National Tobacco Company. In the raid, the authorities seized 85 cartons of filters, 67 cartons of cigarette paper, 17 cartons of illegal cigarettes, 16 cartons of cigarette tape, 10,000 kg of raw tobacco and other raw materials.
In a separate raid at Chanar Tobacco Company, Barnala, authorities seized 731 bags of tobacco.
Currently, the AJK revenue authority is losing billions of rupees every year due to tax evasion in the AJK tobacco industry alone. These illegal cigarettes manufactured in AJK are being smuggled to various parts of Punjab.
It is interesting to note that the tracking and tracing system has not been implemented in the tobacco factories in the AJK region despite the last date. It should also be noted that the illegal tobacco trade causes the Pakistani government to lose 300 billion rupees in annual revenue.
