ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is facing Rs30 billion revenue collection shortfall in achieving target for first quarter (July-September) of fiscal year 2018-19.
According to the official sources, the main reason for falling short of the Jul-Sept target of Rs890 billion was the adverse impact of the Rs35 billion tax relief given by the last government.
The other reason is decrease in number of income tax return filers in first quarter of the current fiscal year. A slow release of funds for the Public Sector Development Programme also impacted the tax revenues.
With only two days left in the current month, so far less than 300,000 people and entities have filed annual income tax returns. These dismal figures suggest that the government has not been able to focus on areas that require immediate attention.
“There is a high possibility that the government is going to give a one-month extension in the deadline for filing income tax returns,” an official said.
The matter has also been discussed with Finance Minister Asad Umar who has given the FBR the go-ahead for the extension.
“A reasonable time has not been given for filing tax returns and statements,” the Pakistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA) complained to FBR Chairman Jahanzeb Khan.
The association stated that without providing time for preparing and filing tax returns, it was not legal to ask people to file returns by the statutory deadline of September 30.
The association argued that various amendments and fundamental changes had been made from time to time and even after introduction of the Income Tax Return and Wealth Statement Forms 2018, which were finalised on August 17, 2018.
It also pointed out that the draft of corporate tax return had not yet been finalised.
The association called for extending the deadline for filing returns till November 16, 2018 – three months from the date of notification – in order to maximise the number of filers and facilitate existing taxpayers.
In fiscal year 2017-18, about 1.4 million people and entities had filed annual income tax returns.
In September last year, the FBR had collected Rs321 billion. In the first 28 days of this month, it received about Rs275 billion. However, tax authorities hope that they could collect another Rs80 billion in the remaining two days.
