It said that various amendments and fundamental changes were made from time to time even after the introduction of income tax return and wealth statement forms 2017, which were finalized and uploaded on the web-portal "IRIS system" through final SRO no. 981(1)/2014 September 28, 2017 after the deadline of the tax returns ie August 31, 2017 and almost 2 days earlier the deadline of September 30, 2017.
In addition, the final SRO in respect of corporate tax return for the tax year 2017 was also issued very late ie on the September 28, 2017, which was also due to be e-filed on September 30, 2017. As such the date was extended up to the 31st October, 2017.
Furthermore, PTBA said that the prescribed time granted under section 118 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 for e-filing of the tax return along with wealth statement form for the taxpayers fell under the FTR and salaried class is August 31 - two months from the date the tax return was due ie July 1 of every year and for business individuals and non-FTR, the prescribed time available under the statute was three months ie September 30 of every year.
Therefore, it is a matter of deep concern for the taxpayers that the prescribed time available under the ordinance to prepare and e-file of the tax return and wealth statement was not provided, hence it is not only impossible to complete the task but also illegal and unjustified as per the provisions of the ordinance.
There are certain legal clarification pending with the FBR, ie, calculation of tax liability in respect of profit or yield on "Behbood Saving Certificate and Pensioner's Benefit Accounts. This fact has already been intimated to the FBR at different occasions during last month. Keeping this in view, the PTBA has requested to extend the date for filing of tax returns up to November 30, 2017 in order to maximize the number of filers and to facilitate the existing taxpayers of the country.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017