Daily Times

Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on Tuesday urged the government to extend the last date for filing of income tax returns 2021 at least for six months considering the difficulties created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The chamber said it would facilitate the maximum number of eligible taxpayers to discharge this national obligation with ease and also help in improving the tax revenue of the country.

ICCI President Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had set September 30, as the last date for the filing of income tax returns 2021.

However, he said the COVID-19 pandemic had badly affected the business activities across the country due to smart lockdowns and restrictions on business timings.

Therefore, it was very difficult for the members of the business community to make tax-related calculations as many businesses remain closed for long durations while many were still closed, he added.

He said this situation necessitated that the FBR should cooperate with the business community in these tough times and give them extensions for at least six months so that they could prepare and file their income tax returns without any pressure or trouble.

Sardar Yasir said some tax experts had also highlighted issues of miscalculation of taxes in the specified formulas during the filing of tax returns.

Therefore, he urged the FBR to extend the deadline for six months and address such issues up to the satisfaction of tax filers.

ICCI Senior Vice President Fatma Azim and Vice President Abdul Rehman Khan also urged the FBR that keeping in view the problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic should seriously consider allowing the business community to pay income tax for the year 2021 in easy instalments that would help them to discharge tax obligations with ease.