ISLAMABAD: Act of making thousands of valid National Tax Numbers (NTNs) inactive by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has put the taxpayers in hot waters.
Since July onward, the FBR made thousands of valid NTNs inactive for not making any tax transaction during last few years. The NTN holders could not make any tax transaction either for one or the other reasons like some went abroad or some ceased to deal in business.
A well placed source at FBR Monday told this scribe that FBR adopted the concept especially in sales tax to check fake transaction and to stop businessmen from striking business deals with anyone found guilty for making any suspicious tax transaction and NTNs had nothing to do with the sales tax or fake tax transaction. But, now the source said that people, with inactive NTNs, wanted to retain their tax numbers, but FBR was silent in this regard.
“Therefore the businessmen with blocked NTNs have been made rolling stone from pillar to post as neither they are being issued their old NTNs nor the new ones against their Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs,)” the source added. The source said that NTNs holders wanted to file income tax returns annually and sales tax returns monthly according to NTNs because the FBR had issued different rates for the filler and non filler of tax returns and sales tax returns. It is pertinent to mention here that NTN is required for import, export, filling of tax returns until June 2014.
Moreover a circular issued by the on February 27, 2002 stated that in super session of Circular issued on February 16 2002, that holders of old NTN certificates, having no change in their addresses, need not apply for issuance of fresh NTN certificates. In such cases, the Income Tax Department shall generate the NTN certificates on basis of available data and dispatch the same on the given addresses of the taxpayers.
The circular further stated that only in case of change in address of the holder of an old NTN certificate, an application should be filed with respective regional offices of Pakistan Revenue Automation (Pvt) Ltd. (PRAL) for issuance of fresh NTN certificate. Till completion of the process of issuance of new NTN certificates, the old NTN cards / certificates will remain valid.
It is added for the information of all NTN holders that in event of any change in their “status”, they are required to obtain a new NTN certificate by filing application and surrendering the original certificate. In case of delay in receipt of any certificate, the concerned Regional Commissioner of Income Tax may be contacted for prompt action.
