Islamabad: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has collected the data of 10,000 people who recently availed the Assets Declaration Scheme 2019, submitted the challan against their due taxes, but couldn’t declare their assets and accounts as per the deadline fixed by the authority, a news source reported.
The FBR has learnt from its field formations that these individuals couldn’t share their assets and accounts details with the board by July 3, since the FBR’s web portal crashed in response to the traffic load. As per reports, they had paid PKR 2.5 billion in terms of taxes by availing the amnesty scheme.
These taxpayers recently contacted the board seeking help with the situation as they were keen to share the complete details but couldn’t do so due to the system failure. In response, the taxation authority excused itself, saying that the deadline had already expired. According to the officials concerned, the government has to take the final decision on this matter.
To facilitate these individuals, a legislation needs to be introduced as the incumbent rules cannot be changed via a notification. One suggestion being considered by the authorities concerned is to adjust the amount (they have paid under Asset Declaration Ordinance 2019) in their due taxes due for the year and allow them to declare their assets in the income tax returns details.
However, the proposal is complicated as this practice is considered an attempt to hide sources of income, which invites imposition of heavy taxes and related penalties. The FBR has, therefore, left the matter to the government to take the final decision on this front.
