In a letter sent to the chairman FBR, KTBA said that instruction would be in accordance with the true spirit of law and for the facilitation of taxpayers who fulfilled their responsibility as compliant taxpayers and would also encourage new taxpayers, helping in increasing the tax base.
Furthermore the letter said it couldn't be considered reasonable that these taxpayers would be treated as 'non-filers' for next year equating them with those non-filers who did not even bother to file returns at all and added that both should not be treated in the same manner.
The KTBA was of the view that once the assessee had applied for extension of time under section 119 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, it was duty of the concerned commissioner to pass appropriate order on such application.
"Admittedly, no order of rejection for grant of extension of time was passed by the commissioner. Under the circumstances, it cannot be presumed that the request for extension in time to file return of income, made by the taxpayer under the law stood declined by the Commissioner."
In the light of above decision, the application of the taxpayer requesting for extension in time for filing of return of income which was not declined by commissioner by any order of rejection under section 119(3) of the Ordinance, is deemed to have been accepted by the commissioner, it added.
However, the taxpayers who had applied for extension in time for filing of return of income and had filed their return of income by the requested due date, are not appearing in the Active Taxpayer's List issued by FBR on March 1, 2019.
Therefore, the KTBA requested FBR to issue instructions for inclusion of the names of those taxpayers who had duly applied for extension for filing of return of income and the rejection order of which was not passed by the commissioner and they filed return of income by the requested due date and also those taxpayers who are registered with FBR after June 2018 and are entitled for inclusion as per above referred SR0831(I)/2015 dated 21 August 2015, in the Active Taxpayer's List issued by the FBR.