Islamabad, JAN 06 (ONLINE ): SardarYasirIlyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called upon the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to revise its policy for mandatory update of taxpayers’ profiles as it has created additional difficulties the business community and was discouraging the potential taxpayers from coming into the tax net.
SardarYasirIlyas Khan said that about 2.3 million tax returns were filed in Pakistan, and one of the main reasons for the filing of low returns was the FBR’s tough laws for the taxpayers due to which many eligible taxpayers were preferring to stay away from coming into the tax net. He stressed that instead of simplifying the difficult tax laws, the Income Tax Ordinance was amended through Finance Act 2020 to make it mandatory for taxpayers to submit their profiles along with income tax returns, even though all personal data of taxpayers was provided in tax returns. Those who do not submit their profiles may be removed from the active taxpayers’ list, as well as face fines and other penalties, which will increase their difficulties, he said. He appealed to the Federal Minister for Finance Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Chairman FBR Muhammad Javed Ghani to take personal interest in the matter and revise the decision regarding mandatory filing of profiles of taxpayers to ease their problems.
