KARACHI – The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has chalked out a strategy with an aim that some 2000 companies file their tax returns. The FBR said steps would be taken by April 15 to ensure that top 1000 corporate non-filers and top 1000 short-filers of the sales tax submitted their returns for the period July-December 2010. The decision was made at a meeting of the FBR’s Board-in-Council convened under the directive of Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in Islamabad on Wednesday.
According to a statement, FBR Chairman Salman Siddique and members discussed various proposals and options to invigorate revenue generation and meet the collection target for the ongoing year besides completing the enforcement drive by May 30.
It also decided to enforce compliance in corporate income tax returns where only 18,098 registered corporate taxpayers out of a total 44,794 have filed their returns so far for the fiscal year 2010. Efforts would also be made for a similar response for the Association of Persons (AoPs), as only 34,155 of the 135,292 registered AoPs have submitted their financial statements.
The meeting also decided in favour of starting desk and completing the audit of corporate returns by February 28 while as risk-based audit would be accomplished by April 30. The demands raised after the move are scheduled to be collected by June 30. The Board-in-Council also decided to monitor withholding agents with airline ticketing agents and banks being the first sectors to come under monitoring radar.
The FBR agreed on streamlining and rationalising tariff on major items of the Afghan transit trade. The step is taken in view of an increased incidence of transit trade items, like tea and tyres, finding their way back into the Pakistani market and causing a huge loss in revenue.
The meeting was told that the illicit trade had risen significantly during the last three years. In this connection, various studies by economic researchers are already underway in FBR to suggest ways to end the profitability of smuggling under the transit trade. It also decided to set up six electronic way-bridges and installation of scanners on the Afghan transit trade route. One such way-bridge has already been set up at Chaman while another would soon be completed at Torkham within next two days.
