FBR presents audit closure options

Karachi: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Tuesday allowed conditional closure of audit proceedings of the taxpayers, who were automatically selected for non-compliance or late filing of income tax returns.

The FBR gave options to the taxpayers, who are facing audit proceedings for having filed their tax returns after due date, a statement said.

The FBR is facing huge backlog of audit cases due to change in law of automatic selection of audit under section 214D of Income Tax Ordinance 2001. The section, was, however, deleted through the Finance Act 2018, but the cases created difficult situation for both the taxpayers and tax officials.

Audit closure is allowed for taxpayers who pay penalty for late filing, opt to file revised income tax return till yearend by paying additional two percent of the turnover or file revised income tax return by paying 25 percent higher tax than the tax paid with return on the basis of taxable income by December 31. The incentive is also allowed in salary/final tax regime/nil turnover, loss or below taxable income and taxable income cases.

The FBR further said taxpayers should apply for concerned Inland Revenue Commissioner to avail the options for revision of returns. The tax commissioners are bound to approve the case within the three days.

The FBR said application would automatically be processed by the FBR’s system on the fourth-day in case of no response from the taxpayers.