Karachi: According to sources in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), more than 50pc of the companies registered with the tax authorities have failed to file their income tax returns for the year 2016-17.
It has been found out that over 41,800 companies have failed to file their income tax returns for FY 2016-17, and during the aforementioned period over 8.286 new entities were registered with the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).
As per the Section 114 of Income Tax Ordinance 2001, it is mandatory for all registered companies to file their income tax returns irrespective of losses or even if no income has been generated in the tax year.
Tax pundits were off the view that available data indicates that implementation on part of the FBR has been very weak, which needs to be improved and as SECP has all the data available at its disposal, the tax authority should ensure the filing of tax returns by all corporate organizations.
An increase has been seen in the filing of corporate tax returns of 25pc in the last four years (2013-2016). Organizations registered with the SECP have also risen by 36pc in aforementioned period.
The FBR has obtained relevant data from the SECP in regard to registered companies that haven’t filed their tax returns and sent notices for filing it for the tax year 2016. The officials further disclosed that those companies which have filed their tax returns, have declared no income for the tax year 2016.
