FBR scores 50 returns under voluntary tax compliance scheme

LAHORE: Returns filing under the tax amnesty scheme is gaining traction with so far at least 50 traders signing in the scheme and thousands of forms issued, a senior official said. 

“Those who are getting information and return forms from the FBR (Federal Board of Revenue) are consulting with their tax lawyers about the quantum of money they should declare under the VTCS (voluntary tax compliance scheme),” the official said, explaining the reason behind the small number. 

Retailers, wholesalers and suppliers are showing interest in the scheme and their interest reflects in huge number of their queries, the official added. 

Sialkot leads the pack as the highest returns have so far been filed from the city’s sports and surgical goods manufacturing units. Lahore, Quetta and Karachi played second fiddle to the industrial city.

“We are expecting huge response in the next week,” the official said.

The board is publicising the advantages of the VTCS and clarifying unregistered businesses officials, traders, distributors and wholesalers about the scheme through awareness campaigns. 

The FBR has appointed a focal person (chief commissioner) in all the 18 regional offices across the country to address the concerns of the prospective filers who want to avail the opportunity. These focal persons have assigned sub-focal persons for each market. Besides, kiosks were also established in various jurisdictions.   The board has given a manual return filing opportunity to unregistered traders to further facilitate them. The FBR has set up data entry centers at all the regional offices where data entry operators are digitising manual forms into the central data base of the board.

The FBR has also established a central data room at its headquarters to monitor the data entry operations.