The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to extend the date for the filing of income tax return at least till December 31. LCCI President Abdul Basit in a statement on Friday said that the number of filers had been declined by 30 percent as compared to the previous year. Last year, the number of filers was 1.1 million while only 0.525 million people had so far filed their returns, he said.
The business community always wants to perform its national obligations but a large number of businessmen could not file their returns till December 15 mainly because of problems in the FBR IRIS system. The real estate sector was also directed to file their returns after one month if they availed the amnesty scheme announced by the government, he said.
"Last year, business community was given exemption till March 31 for filing their returns but this time procedure has been closed on December 15 which is a sheer injustice," he added. The LCCI chief said that extension in the date for the filing of tax returns would not only be a great favour to the business community but would also be in the interest of the government. He said the extension in the date for filing of income tax returns would help government to achieve its revenue target besides trust building of the private sector.