Daily Times

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday clarified its position over a news item published in a section of the press, claiming that the board issued suspicious exemption certificates.

According to FBR clarification, a news story titled “FBR issues thousands of suspicious exemption certificates” inter alia, mentions that FBR field formations have issued thousands of exemption certificates without fulfilling the requirements envisaged in the law.

The board clarified that the news had been reported without understanding the relevant provisions of SRO 717(I)/2014 and context of FBRs’ correspondence with field formations.

The law stipulates an inherent mechanism for examining the propriety and correctness of the exemption certificates issued during a certain period and such exercise is a routine affair at field formation level.

Accordingly, field formations were asked by FBR to conduct scrutiny of the exemption certificates issued during tax year 2020 at the time of close of the tax year.

The news has been reported out of context and without ascertaining the facts of the matter, it added.