Audit suspension: Taxpayers still receiving notices despite FBR chiefs assurance

MUHAMMAD ALI

KARACHI: Taxpayers are still receiving audit notices, despite the assurance given by the chairman FBR to suspend audit for 30 days during recent meeting with business fraternity in Karachi.

According to details, Chairman FBR Dr Muhammad Irshad during recent visit to the Federation House, announced to immediately stop the audit being conducted by different field formation for 30 days.

He said that the issue would be resolved with consultation of FPCCI and invited the FPCCI to Islamabad for a dialogue on the audit issue. He further claimed that FBR had changed the services structure and focus was now on tax broadening instead of levy of a higher tax rate on taxpayers.

However, the field formation, which has downrightly neglected the said assurance of chairman FBR to the business community, is still actively conducting audit exercise.

Sources said that Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) in Karachi were busy in issuing audit notices under section 25 of Sales Tax Act 1990 to the taxpayers for the period July 2014 to June 2015.

Meanwhile, official sources, who did not want to be named, said that FBR had fixed unprecedented revenue targets, which was up to 30 per cent increase as compared to previous revenue targets to generate Rs200 billion to Rs300 billion in the remaining period of 2016-17. Keeping the said in view, the field formation is utilizing all means including audit and others to meet the said revenue target, they maintained.