Returns filing date extension urged

KARACHI: Pakistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA) on Tuesday urged the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to extend the last filing date as one million income tax returns are still pending.

The PTBA in a letter sent to FBR Chairman Syed Shabbar Zaidi urged to extend the last date for filing income tax returns up to December 31, 2019 to facilitate the genuine taxpayers in staying compliant.

The PTBA said so far around 1.6 million returns had been filed electronically for tax year 2019, whereas the number of returns for tax year reached record level of 2.65 million. It shows a shortfall of 40 percent or 1.05 million returns that are still pending even after extension of date till November 30, 2019.

The last date for filing tax year 2019 returns was September 30, 2019 for salaried persons, business individuals, Association of Persons (AOPs) and companies having special tax year. The FBR allowed first extension to October 31, 2019 and then further extended the date to November 30, 2019.