Karachi (Business Desk) It has been revealed that foreign airlines transfer $2.4 billion annually out of Pakistan through the sale of air tickets, while concerns have been raised that a major portion of this revenue may remain outside Pakistan's financial system.
In this regard, the Aircraft Owners and Operators Association has demanded a forensic tax audit of all airlines operating in Pakistan for the past five years.
In a letter sent to the federal finance minister, the association's founder, Imran Aslam Khan, maintained that there were concerns about alleged tax evasion in airline ticket sales through offshore payment systems and urged the government to take immediate notice of the matter.
The letter calls for payments for tickets on flights arriving in Pakistan and departing for international destinations to be processed through a payment system regulated and supervised by the State Bank of Pakistan.
It also demands that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) establish a mechanism for directly collecting taxes on ticket sales by all airlines.
Imran Aslam Khan further called for airlines to provide the FBR with complete records of their passengers and tickets sold, ensuring that the relevant authority has details of revenue generated through ticket sales and the taxes payable on it.