KARACHI: The Pakistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA) has urged the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman Tariq Bajwa to further extend the deadline for filing income tax returns up to December 31. Taxpayers may not able to pay tax in a short span of time.
The PTBA said in a letter sent to chairman of the revenue body Tariq Bajwa that delayed start of IRIS system, the taxpayers and tax consultants have only 15 days time to complete the work instead of three months, which is allowed under the law.
“The newly-introduced IRIS system factually started working better after the Ashura holidays that is since last two weeks and during these days the taxpayers and tax consultants of the country have tried to complete the work, but unable to do so, as no sufficient time is provided to them, which is the demand of all the taxpayers and tax consultants of the country,” the letter added.
The FBR had already extended the last date three times for filing the income tax returns for the tax year 2014 and now it is November 21.
The extensions have been granted on the complaints of taxpayers that the new system ‘IRIS’ was not responding and to-date the system though started working, but has multiple issues unresolved.
The FBR is expecting around 1.2 million tax returns against 0.8 million filed last year.
Sources in the Regional Tax Office (RTO) Karachi said the FBR had received around 390,000 returns just two days ago from the cut of date.
The sources said if the date is not extended further, it would be a challenge for both the taxpayers and the FBR.
Two days ago, Shahid Hussain Asad, Member Inland Revenue (Policy), through a press release reminded the taxpayers to file their income tax returns by November 21 to avoid fines and penalties.
The PTBA has requested the FBR to consider the problems and difficulties being faced by the taxpayers and tax consultants and extend the last date up to December 31, to facilitate the genuine taxpayers of the country in properly filing/e-filing their tax returns, as they are regular contributors to the national exchequer.
Trade bodies, including the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and Towel Manufacturers Association had already requested the FBR to extend the date, as their members could not be able to file their returns through the IRIS system.
Meanwhile, the Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) has discussed the issue of e-filing with the chief commissioners of the Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) Karachi, in case no further extension is granted by the FBR.
a delegation of the bar met the chief commissioners of RTOs and the issues related to filing the applications for extension of time were discussed. They resolved that separate counters for receiving such applications would be established.
The bar advised its members to write applications to the respective commissioners (zone-wise) holding proper jurisdiction on case-to-case basis.
