Taxpayers mayface difficulty in filing returns till Aug 31

KARACHI: Taxpayers may find it difficult to timely file the returns for the tax year 2016 as the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will only be able to get its online portal ready for the filing only three days before the deadline, experts said on Friday. 

The FBR issued the draft income tax return form for the tax year 2016 and invited comments from stakeholders within 15 days of the publication. The next two days (August 27 and 28) will fall on Saturday and Sunday – weekly holidays. 

“The FBR may be able to launch the final return form and open e-portal for return filing only on 29 August,” an expert said.

The last date for filing income tax returns by salaried individuals under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 is August 31, which will leave only three days for the salaried persons to complete the task.

Salaried persons account for 30 percent of total above one million return filers. The capacity of FBR e-portal is also in question for receiving 0.3 million returns within only three days.

Tax experts criticised the FBR for delayed issuance of the draft return form. They said the form should have been uploaded on 1 July for giving sufficient time to taxpayers in discharging their liabilities.

“It is a regular practice of the FBR to create difficulties for taxpayers,” said Rehan Hassan Jafri, president at Karachi Tax Bar Association. 

For the past several years, the FBR failed to launch the return form on time, which resulted in frequent extension in filing deadlines, Jafri added.

Over the past few years, the return filing witnessed a significant growth owing to higher rates imposed on non-filers of income tax returns. 

In the budget 2014/15, the government created a wide gap in terms of taxation for filers and non-filers. This tax difference was further extended in the budget 2015/16, which forced the taxpayers to file their returns. The FBR was able to receive more than one million returns in the past two years. The FBR is eying another 1.8 million returns this year.

KTBA president said the FBR’s draft return form contains changes, which were announced in the budget 2015/16. “The draft return should have been made part of budget 2016/17,” Jafri opined.

The tax experts said the delayed issuance of return form will also affect the return filing from association of persons, companies having special accounting year, and those having account year ending June 30, which are required to file their returns up to 30 September and 31 December, respectively.

They said if FBR extends the deadline for filing by the salaried persons, the next date may clash or fall close to other dates of filing and therefore, tax practitioners will be burdened with monthly sales tax and federal excise statements.