FBR notifies final version of retailers’ return form

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue has notified the final version of the income tax return form for retailers having annual turnover less than Rs10 million through SRO 885(I)/2020.

Experts have termed it as a good initiative towards simplification in compliance of annual tax return filing by small retailers. However, they were of the view that the threshold fixed for simplified return filing scheme for retailers is extremely low which implies that this scheme can be availed by only those retailers who have average daily turnover of Rs. 27,397. Under the depreciated currency, this limit is so low that a retailer serving only 13 customers buying goods worth Rs. 2,000 can only avail this facility, therefore FBR should reconsider the threshold of Rs10 million and revise it upwards to at least 20 million.

It is further added that the small retailers are neither well versed with e-filing system nor literate enough to understand the tax return notified in English, it will be highly appreciable if FBR notifies an Urdu Version of the return and allow manual filing of the simplified return by retailers.

Experts are of the view that if these three improvements of enhancing the threshold of Rs. 10 million to 20 million, notifying Urdu version, and accepting these returns manually as well; will certainly encourage the retailers to be compliant and FBR will be in a position to broaden the tax base to a greater extent.

It is also pointed out by the experts that despite of simplified return for retailers notified by FBR, the PRAL has not yet changed the e-filing facility in IRIS system; wherein the wealth statement portion in iris is not according to the notified return and still asks for detailed information of wealth statement as is applicable to all other return filers. Hence the Iris system should be immediately modified in accordance with the notified version so that the glaring anomaly is removed and the retailers desirous of e-filing of return may take real benefit of the simplification, they added.