KARACHI: Karachi Tax Bar Association requested Chairman FBR to open the system for businessmen willing to file returns under Amnesty scheme in order to increase the number of filers. IT wrote a letter to the chairman FBR the text of which is as follows:
To,
Syed Muhammad Shabbar Zaidi
Chairman Federal Board of Revenue
Islamabad.
Sub: Filing of Tax Returns by Amnesty Filers and Shopkeepers/Traders – Tax Year 2019
Dear Shabbar Sahib,
This has reference to our earlier communication on the subject vide letters dated Sept. 20th , Oct. 2nd and Oct. 30th, 2019 whereby your attention was invited, inter alia, with reference to woes of Amnesty Filers and Shopkeepers/Traders in context of Return filing.
Through this letter we wish to reiterate that their issues are still unresolved owing to which they cannot file their Tax Returns for TY 2019 despite repeated extensions. The same are being narrated here under briefly to invite your necessary attention yet once again.
Amnesty Filers: It is critical to decide the fate of filers of the Assets Declaration Scheme of 2019 who could not submit their declarations due to untimely closure of the option on IRIS on July 03rd , 2019. Consequent to which, they could not revise their wealth statements for the Tax Year 2018, which you would appreciate is a necessary component for filing the return of income and wealth for the next year i.e. Tax Year 2019. It is apprehended that if they are not allowed to submit their declarations, which they have not been so far, in the last six (06) months, their right to timely file their returns of income for the Tax Year 2019 is systematically been jeopardized and mere extending date of filing wont resolve their problem.
Shopkeepers/Traders: The group of taxpayers consisting of Shopkeepers and Traders of the country who still have to be given, inter alia, a final format of Return for their tax filing, which the FBR introduced vide its notification under Sections 99B and 9C of the Ordinance and committed that the same would be applicable right from the very Tax Year of 2019. The final notification, however, has not yet been issued by FBR either to confirm or to dispel their confusion owing to which, this large group of taxpayers have not yet been able to file their tax return.
BAR Association Role: It is humbly urged that this letter is not taken as Extension Application to extend the filing date as we understand that mere extending the date of filing tax return is not the resolution to problems unless the actual concerns are addressed. It is, therefore, all befitting that the System for submitting Amnesty should be opened for those who paid their taxes on July 3rd and the final Notification for Shopkeepers/Traders is issued to enable them file their Tax returns. We as a Bar association are very much cognizant of the FBR’s genuine efforts to increase number of tax filers in the country, which is essentially fundamental to economic self independence of our country and would like to take part and render the due role as an association in this context. Advice from your esteemed office shall remain awaited.
Yours faithfully
(Mohammad Rehan Siddiqui) President KTBA