LAHORE: More than one million audit cases are still pending at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) due to shortage of staff at the Regional Tax Offices and Audit Department.
Sources said that over 0.8 million audit cases, generated under D-214, could not be handled in tax year 2016-17, while more than 0.2-0.3 million cases selected for audit during FY 2013-15 are also pending.
Under the Section D-214 of Income Tax Ordinance 2001, taxpayers who fail to file annual income tax returns till the last date announced by the FBR are automatically selected for audit.
In tax year 2016, the date of filing tax returns was extended four times; however, about 400,000 people filed returns after the due date which were sent for audit. Likewise in TY 2017, the last date of filing returns was extended several times for 15 days and one month. Taxpayers were also failed to file withholding statement due to breakdown of online software.
