FBR empowers tax officers to enforce return filing, make assessment

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to make automatic exchange of information under Organisation of Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) more effective, the FBR has enhanced powers of Directorate General of International Taxes Operation to enforce return filing and making assessment.

This empowerment is quite crucial as the FBR obtained data from 28 jurisdiction regarding 152,000 non-resident Pakistanis having $7.5 billion in their bank accounts. So far the FBR has remained unable to bring them into tax net but efforts are underway to place administrative mechanism to make apparent movement on this subject. The FBR on Tuesday issued SRO 744(I)/2019 to empower officers of the Directorate General of International Tax Operations to exercise powers and perform functions under the provisions of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001.

The FBR has also authorised Directors of International Tax Operations, Additional Director of International Tax Operations and Assistant/Deputy Director of International Tax Operations of Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Multan and Quetta to exercise certain powers of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001.

The Director General of International Taxes Operations shall have the powers to obtain and collect information when solicited by another country under a tax treaty, a tax information exchange agreement, a multilateral convention, an inter-governmental agreement, a similar arrangement or