It seems that as the FBR has failed to broaden the tax base
LAHORE: I would like to draw the attention of the FBR chairman towards the misplaced and overzealous actions of his staff. I was highly disappointed with the audit notice that was served to me — which clearly indicated the sheer inability of the officer to do basic arithmetic — when I was reminded by my employer, that I, along with 192 other faculty members, had not filed my income tax returns. So the FBR had sent the organisation a notice. I have been a tax filer for the past 32 years, and yet my name was among the first in the list of those who had failed to file their income tax returns.
The ‘final audit notice’ claimed I had been sent two notices earlier — which I deem to be imaginary as I have never received the said notices. Several colleagues are also witness to such practices by the FBR. To top it all, I had just recovered from an audit notice that was served to my 93-year-old mother who lives on half of my late father’s pension, but is still a tax filer even with an income below the filing limit.
It seems that as the FBR has failed to broaden the tax base, they have decided to harass innocent salaried individuals, who pay their taxes as it is obligatory upon them. The FBR chairman must be aware of such things happening in his department. The chairman should take action against his officials who harass honest taxpayers.
Prof Wasif M Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, May 31st, 2019.
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