SM HAIDER
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has waived off whole amount of default, surcharge, and penalty on account of non-payment of any outstanding duty and taxes till June 30, 2013. The aim of this step is to encourage taxpayers to pay their due taxes in order to maximize dwindling tax revenues during the outgoing financial year.
According to SRO 494 (1) 2013, the FBR has given incentives to get maximum outstanding amount with the condition that the principle amount of duty and taxes is not available to fraudulent refunds, drawback cases where prosecution proceeding has already been initiated.
During the outgoing fiscal year, the FBR’s tax target was revised downward by thrice as initially the tax target was fixed at Rs 2381 billion which was revised to Rs 2193 billion, then slashed down to Rs 2050 billion and finally lowered to Rs 2018 billion. So far in first eleven months (July-May) period of the outgoing financial year, the FBR’s tax collection stands at Rs 1682 billion, registering an increase in the range of just 5 percent compared to the same corresponding period of the last financial year. The FBR will have to collect Rs 336 billion in ongoing month to achieve the revised tax target of Rs 2018 billion.