Islamabad: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has reported a 40% increase in income tax returns filed in the tax year 2018-19, as compared to the number of returns filed in the preceding year — with the this surge in numbers a result of the approaching January 31 deadline for filing tax returns, according to news sources.
The tax authority had already received 2.285 million tax returns till Wednesday (January 29), against the total 1.635 million returns filed during the last tax year (2017-2018).
To
date, the deadlines for income tax return filings has been extended four times
already in order to ensure that the maximum number of taxpayers have the
opportunity to file their returns.
The
FBR registered a record number of 2.7 million returns back in the tax year
2017-18.
FBR,
under the World Bank (WB) funded project, seeks to increase the number of
income tax return filings to 3.5 million by 2023.
FBR spokesperson Dr Hamid Ateeq Sarwar has expressed hope that the number of people filing their returns will increase even further before the deadline expires tomorrow.
He
revealed that the FBR has received 2.139 returns from salaried and non-salaried
individuals, while 59,243 returns were received from the association of persons
(AoPs). He added that 35,233 of the total 105,407 companies registered with the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) had also managed
to file their returns so far.
According to an official
statement issued on Wednesday, FBR requires individuals in possession of houses
spanning over 500+ square metres and 1,000+ cc cars, to file their tax returns.
All the commercial and industrial consumers of power and gas are also obligated
to be on the active taxpayers list.
Meanwhile, the FBR has launched a
helpline service that can provide assistance in case of any issues faced by the
people looking to file their returns.
Hazafa reveres the art of writing and has been turned into a property enthusiast by profession. Her daily survival kit includes; tea, coffee, keyboard and paperbacks.
