There’s drastic cut in the number of income tax return filers

ISLAMABAD: There is a drastic decrease in the number of old income tax return filers who filed returns in 2022, but failed to file their due returns in 2023.

The data analysis (March 2024) of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on income tax return filing revealed that the total number of persons displayed on the Active Taxpayer List (ATL) 2022 stood at 5,730,000.

The total number of persons covered under the ATL 2023 totalled 3,350,000.

Out of 3,350,000 return filers in 2023, the new income tax return filers were 840,000. Thus, the number of filers is 2,510,000 for the tax year 2023 when compared with 2022. The data further revealed that the drop in the number of old taxpayers filing returns is 66.2 per cent (3,220,000).

FBR receives over 2.9m income tax returns

The companies registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) as on June 2022 totalled 169,059 and tax returns filed by companies for tax year 2023, stood at 91,135.

Therefore, the level of compliance by the corporate sector is merely 46 per cent. The total number of individuals and association of persons (AOPs)/ companies registered with the FBR totalled 11 million.

The number of returns filed by these individuals/AOPs as on March 1, 2024, for tax year 2023 is 3,350,000. The compliance level is 30 percent, showing a poor trend of return filing by these individuals/ AOPs/ companies.

Sales tax data revealed that the total persons registered for sales tax are 312,800 and persons who filed sales tax returns totalled 189,700, reflecting a compliance level of 61 per cent.

Out of these who filed sales tax returns, “null filers” stood at 59,800. The number of “Nil “filers stood at 89,900. The sales taxpayers, who filed returns with payment amounted to 41,000.

The FBR data further revealed that total industrial electricity concessions are 360,000 and total commercial electricity connections are 3,600,000.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024