LAHORE: The Federal Board of Revenue’s Broadening of Tax Base (BTB)-Lahore has issued notices to some 3,950 people who did not declare their assets despite multiple extensions in tax submission deadlines, it was learnt on Friday.
According to sources in the FBR, the government had extended the tax deadline date several times in order to facilitate the non-filers, but most of the people did not bother to comply in this regard.
Sources further informed that FBR’s BTB zone had issued notices to 3,950 non-filers who purchased precious lands, drew heavy amounts from banks, received insurance claims and owned vehicles that were above 1,000cc.
Sources further revealed that the FBR has ordered them (notified non-filers) to submit their income details of the last three years.
Talking to this scribe, an FBR official said the notices were being served to those who failed to submit their details before August 2, adding that FBR would take strict action against non-filers in order to increase the country’s tax base.
It is pertinent to mention that so far, 2.1 million people have filed their tax returns, which is the highest in FBR’s history. FBR has projected a target to enhance these returns numbers to 4 million for the tax year 2019.
According to an FBR statement, the revenue board had already compiled data of almost 8-10 million individuals who own a house larger than five hundred square yards or a vehicle over 1,000 cc and bank accounts across the country. “The data will be used for the issuance of notices in several phases.”
Last month, the FBR chairman said in an interview that the government wanted to increase tax returns to a reasonable level.
“All regional tax offices (RTOs) have been directed to issue notices to all those people on whom name industrial and commercial utility bills are issued,” he had said. “FBR revenue collection is one of the benchmarks in the International Monetary Fund review.”
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