‘Rich’ pay Rs300m in income tax

FBR notices to 22,000 force them to pay tax and file returns.

ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), in its drive to widen the tax net, has received Rs300 million in income tax along with tax returns from around 22,000 so-called ‘rich people’, says an FBR official.

The tax was deposited in response to notices sent by FBR to around 80,000 people, asking them to pay their due taxes and file tax returns. These 80,000 were among 750,000 people, identified with the help of National Database and Registration Authority’s (NADRA) data, who according to tax officials own luxury houses and frequently travel abroad but do not pay any tax.

According to the FBR official, the board had set up a broadening of tax base department, under the chairmanship of Director General Intelligence and Investigation Shahid Hussain Asad, with the task to expand documentation and bring people into the tax net.

He said this department had so far targeted 36,000 potential taxpayers, of which 22,000 filed income tax returns and deposited Rs300 million. To the remaining 14,000 people, the department has issued provisional assessment orders, seeking total payment of Rs4.5 billion in income tax.

The official saw positive results from the FBR’s drive to widen the tax net, hoping that there would be an increase in tax collection along with filing of returns by the end of September.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2011.