Extension in audit deadline sought

KARACHI: The Pakistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA) on Monday sought from government another three months till March 31, 2019 to settle cases automatically selected for audit.

Earlier, the government had given the timeframe of December 31, 2018 to the taxpayers to settle their cases.

Abdul Qadir Memon, president of PTBA, in a letter to Finance Minister Asad Umar highlighted several points for seeking extension in the deadline up to March 31, 2019.

The letter said the last date for filing individuals, association of persons (AoPs) and companies (special tax year) tax return was December 17, 2018, where more than 1.4 million tax returns had been filed as compared to 1.121 million on the same date last year.

It also said the last date for filing tax returns by companies is due on December 31, 2018 and it is anticipated that more than 20,000 returns had already been filed in less than two weeks.

The PTBA said in a large number of cases the audit notices under Section 177 and Section 214D of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 had not been issued to the taxpayers by the automated system, which is mandatory to initiate the process to file return under Section 214E of the ordinance.

Besides, certain improvements in the automated system for efficient disposal has been solicited from the FBR, it added.

The PTBA informed the finance minister the tax bars had received a bulk of requests from taxpayers regarding scheme for disposal of the audit cases.