Daily Times

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Dr Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed has advised taxpayers to file annual income tax returns within time.

The chairman in an FBR publication said that timely uploading of income tax form this year is appreciable activity and must continue in future as well. The taxpayers’ would optimistically take advantage of it this year and would file their returns timely. The FBR chairman said that the revenue body starts the fiscal year with laurels of 23 percent growth by collecting Rs850 billion during July and August 2021. This historical growth coupled with reforms, enforcement and compliance strategy would further take the revenues to the optimum level. There is no doubt that the government’s policies for economic growth and revival are bearing fruit, he said.

For broad spectrum national economic growth, curbing tax evasion and broadening the base by establishing linkages with the provincial governments is imperative, he said. That is why the provincial governments have been offered proactive and technical collaboration especially in the agriculture sector, as many declare their agriculture income in federal ITRs, he added.

The launching of, Single Identifier Number for all domestic taxes which is linked with the CNIC, and Alternate Delivery Channel (ADC) by which any federal tax or duty may be paid without physical visit of the bank shows the enduring commitment of FBR for ‘ease of doing businesses’.

It is heartening to note that the scheme for new Export Facilitation Scheme 2021 has been approved by the Government and adopted by the parliament vide the Finance Act 2021.

The issuance of rules would certainly impact in reducing the cost and create the ease of doing business and improve compliance.

Be it international cooperation for exchange of technical experiences or creating friendly environments with the business communities, the FBR has always welcomed all stakeholders including the business chambers as vital players.

The FBR has uploaded the income tax return forms for tax year 2021. Separate return forms for salaried, association of persons and business individuals have also been uploaded. The income tax returns can be filed through web portal and Tax Asaan application.

The taxpayers are provided guidance on filling all the required particulars in the form. The income tax returns can be filed online through smart phones by installing the Tax Aasaan application from Google play store. In this regard, a media campaign would also be launched for awareness and education purposes.

Meanwhile, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to allow a single vehicle owner to transport goods under the transshipment rules.

In this connection, the FBR has issued SRO 1129(I)/2021 to notify draft rules. The tax authorities proposed an amendment to Customs Rules, 2001. A new rule 328A has been proposed for allowing a single transport vehicle owner to transport transshipment goods.