Private medical, dental colleges: FTO asks FBR to file audited accounts

ISLAMABAD: Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to ensure filing of audited accounts by the private medical and dental colleges to analyse their receipts vis-à-vis expenses for past tax years.

The direction has been given by the FTO in the matter of Own Motion investigation initiated by FTO Secretariat, Islamabad based on the multiple news items and reports published in print and social media into tax affairs of private medical & dental colleges in Pakistan.

FTO has directed the FBR to instruct the concerned Commissioner-IR to attend to the glaring omissions and commissions, reflecting departmental inattention and ineptitude while handling this highly streamlined sector.

The FBR should review the withholding regime requisitioning and analysing segregated lists of employees of Multan Medical & Dental College, so as to verify whether all the faculty members, reflected at college website are being regularly subjected to withholding taxes at source.

All employees receiving taxable salaries are borne on Tax Roll and in cases of default details be shared with the concerned RTO for broadening the tax base purposes.

The share from private practice at teaching hospital being paid to specialists is being declared by them and being subjected to withholding tax and year-wise list of students enrolled in the college may be obtained from PMDC with bifurcation of local/ foreign students and the status of tax deducted on such receipts, FTO order added.

The details/ documents provided by the Deptt relevant to Tax Year 2021 & 2022 reflect that the Deptt has completely failed in monitoring the withholding taxes for these two years which speaks of its inefficiency. A perusal of withholding statements filed by the taxpayer for tax year 2021 shows that no withholding statements have been filed and the Deptt has failed to enforce the same till to date. Show cause notice for imposition of penalty has been issued during the course of investigation proceedings of the instant Own Motion.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024