The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Tuesday announced to start a massive drive for the recovery of taxes from 169 big and influential tax evaders, ARY News reported.

According to a statement released by FBR, a crackdown on the high-value targets has been launched on the instruction of Federal Minister for Finance Asad Umar as part of the government’s efforts to widen the tax net.

In the first phase, strict action is being taken against 169 tax evaders and non-filers with proven trail of large business transactions and financial deals made by them in recent times.

All such tax evaders have been identified by the FBR and are being proceeded against for recovery of payable tax besides being subjected to heavy fines and penalties for failing to fulfill their tax obligations.

The FBR has also decided to start action, in a phased manner, against all those tax evaders who have purchased properties over 20 million rupees, or purchased 1800 CC or larger engine cars, or received rent to the tune of 10 million rupees or more in a year but have not filed their tax returns.