Karachi: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday announced its decision to re-notify potential taxpayers (identified through its recent measures to broaden the national tax base) upon the resumption of its concerned operations that had been halted in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown, according to news sources.
Officials in the Regional Tax Office (RTO)-II Karachi have confirmed that notices were sent to hundreds of potential taxpayers but the legal proceedings in these cases were stopped after the outbreak of the coronavirus and the ensuing country-wide lockdown.
The Sindh government was the first to impose the lockdown on March 23 that partially halted commerce and trade activities —leading to reduced working hours and staff in all offices.
The taxpayers who received the notices were also unable to comply with them due to the ongoing circumstances. Reportedly, the RTO-II Karachi had sent notices to individuals with certain taxable incomes that had not been previously included in the tax base. Now, fresh notices will be sent to these individuals and they will be not be penalized or fined for being unable to comply with the earlier notifications.
According to sources, notices have been sent to leading hospitals for getting financial records and profiles of medical practitioners and doctors. The hospitals, under Section 165 of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001, qualify as withholding agents and as such are required to disclose all requisite details of the doctors they employ; including tax deductions, names, and Computerized National Identity Card (CNICs) numbers, etc.
In addition, the tax authorities have also issued notifications to doctors who operate private clinics and generate sizeable amounts of money. Other sectors that have been identified in order to broaden the tax base include personal care salons, and educational institutions, among various others.
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