Over 9,800 FBR employees file tax returns

ISLAMABAD: Over 9,800 out of 10,000 Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) employees have filed their tax returns, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

The FBR Chairman Amjad Tawana confirmed that only 180 employees were non-filers who will also file their tax returns in a few days. He detailed that 10,000 non-filer employees were salaried below Rs50,000.

Earlier, it emerged that 10,000 out of 17,000 FBR employees were non-filers.

In November, the revenue board announced that the non-filers would face the disconnection of utility connections including electricity and gas, as well as the blocking of mobile SIMs if return is not filed in response to notices issued.

As part of restructuring measures, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has established 145 District Tax Offices to bring 1.5 to 2 million new taxpayers into the tax net till June 2024.

Caretaker Prime Minister (PM) Anwaarul Haq Kakar had stressed the importance of revenue and increasing the existing number of tax filers during recent meetings.

The FBR board notified the establishment of district tax offices, a new initiative that will help broaden the tax base and ultimately raise the tax-to-GDP ratio to a desired level.

The offices would be headed by District Tax Officers entrusted with the responsibility of enforcing Income Tax Returns from non-filers and stop-filers, according to a press release.

The establishment of these offices heralds a new chapter that would expand the tax net to fill a critical tax gap on the path to bringing all potential taxpayers into the tax net, the statement said.

The new offices would be headed by dedicated Inland Revenue Officers in BS-17/18 which would obtain and utilize third-party data acquired from multiple departments and agencies that hold critical information regarding investment in assets and incurring of huge expenditures by potential taxpayers who till now have managed to escape and stayed away from the taxation system including registration and filing of tax returns.