Although the date of e-filing of income tax returns has been extended till November 30, 2016, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is unable to receive not more than 80 per cent of its target of 1.2 million returns till the date; tax experts said here on Wednesday.
According to the tax experts, the board has, so far, received 0.55 million income tax returns against the target of 1.2 million returns; adding that the returns submission was averagely hovering between 20 to 24 thousand per day if the IRIS system ran smoothly. They said that if the PRAL ensured smooth operation of IRIS system for next 15 days, the board may not receive more than 0.35 million returns.
Therefore, the tax experts were of the view that the board would remain behind of its target of 1.2 million returns by 0.3 million returns till the last date of November 30, 2016.
They said that FBR should have announced December 15, 2016 as last date for submission of income tax returns with a clarification of 'no further date extension' instead of extending the same for next 15 days. Moreover, they opined that board had to give further date extension for e-filing of income tax returns to meet its annual returns target of 1.2 million.
When contacted, Syed Rehan Hasan Jaferi President Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) said that the backlog of income tax returns, which has been piling up for last two and a half months, due to IRIS malfunctioning, could not be disposed of in next 15 days.
Replying to a question, he dispelled the impression of asking unnecessary date extension for e-filing of income tax returns every year, saying that as per law, the board had to issue income tax returns by July 1 and the last date of e-filing of returns for salaried persons was August 31 and September 30 for non-salaried persons.
By virtue of said prescribed dates, the salaried persons are legally allowed to finalize their returns in two months and non-salaried persons have three months for the purpose, Jaferi said. However, the FBR remains unable to incorporate revised income tax returns till the prescribed date every year, due to PRAL deficiency. Furthermore, he said that the date for return submission would further be extended as board would remain behind of its target of 1.2 million returns till the last date of November 30, 2016.