FBR ready to provide technical assistance for filing returns

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is eager to work with corporate sector and provide companies with any technical assistance and facilitation through training sessions and workshops to help their employees file tax returns, a senior official said on Thursday. 

“A lot of work is required to be done in motivating and urging the employees to file their tax returns and become filers to reap a host of dividends and advantages accrued from the filing of returns,” Nausheen Javaid Amjad, member Facilitation and Taxpayers Education (FATE) of FBR said in a meeting with the industry officials. 

Tax education team of FBR, led by Amjad, held meetings with senior officials of banks, Peshawar Electric Supply Company and trade associations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in continuation of its drive to encourage taxpayers to meet the deadline of returns filing, a statement said. The last date of tax returns filing is expiring on 30 September. 

The objective of the meetings was to encourage the industry officials to promote and underline benefits of filing of income tax returns by the employees in their organisations. FBR has stepped up its taxpayers outreach campaign by engaging chambers, banks, power distribution companies and business organisations around the country in a bid to further boost the filing of income tax returns.

The apex tax authority received a minuscule 1.2 million returns by June 30 for the tax year 2016, depicting a 20 percent growth from a year earlier. FBR has begun an aggressive drive to encourage returns filing. It slaps additional withholding tax on non-cash banking transactions to broaden taxpayers’ base. 

The revenue body obtained a record of 2.9 million industrial and commercial electricity connection holders, who are required to file annual returns. Likewise, one million individuals, in the salary class, have been identified as non-filers despite having taxable income.

The government, in the budget for 2015/16 fiscal year, introduced Section 236P into Income Tax Ordinance 2001 and imposed withholding tax rate of 0.6 percent on non-filers while they make non-cash banking transaction above Rs50,000 in a day. The rate was reduced to 0.3 percent on July 15, 2015, but edged up to 0.4 percent in March 2016. The tax rate is applicable till September 2017.

“FBR has started the outreach and awareness campaign through the media as well as direct, one-on-one interaction with the captains and office-bearers of various industries, financial and business organisations, chambers and trade bodies to promote a culture of tax compliance,” Amjad added.