Via post: Knock knock … it’s the FBR notice

KARACHI: Rogue officials in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) have sent hundreds of notices via post to income tax filers under the pretext of missing information, compelling them to visit their office to ‘sort out the issue’.

This has been going on despite the fact that the electronic filing system does not require such notices to be delivered by post or allow the FBR to force the tax filers to respond in a similar manner.

“This is the second time in two years I have received a notice telling me that some information is missing from my e-form,” said a senior official of a multinational company. “Now I would have to pay Rs30,000 to get rid of the commissioner.”

Officials send notices to taxpayers under the pretence of missing data. SCREENSHOT OF A FBR NOTICE

The notices – which are mostly sent to middle-to-senior level executives working in various local and foreign companies – often raise baseless objections like missing employer name even though the tax filer’s designation and organisation’s name is mentioned in the same notice.

A tax consultancy chief executive officer (CEO) Asrar Rauf said that tax filers are not bound to respond to such notices. “Tear them off and throw them away. That’s what should be done. This is just another way to make money,” said Rauf. “One of the key purposes of the electronic filing system was to avoid interaction between FBR officials and tax filers. Besides helping bring everything on record, this was done to deter corruption.”

Rauf added that if any information is missing from the electronic tax return forms, then the FBR would send the person an email seeking details instead of some deputy or assistant commissioner issuing notice via post.

“Unsuspecting filers don’t know what to do as there is so much fear of the tax official. They go to the offices and become target of manipulation.”

The fear of ending up on the wrong side of the tax collector often keeps powerful textile businessmen to maintain silence.

Recently, a number of bed wear exporters were sent similar notices. But the association took a stand and reported the name of the Deputy Commissioner who was harassing its members to the FBR chairman.

The deputy commissioner apologised and requested the association to drop the matter.

“It is tough for an individual to take a stand in such a situation,” said a Lahore-based food company CEO.

“Most of the time we say to ourselves that instead of spending Rs50,000 to fight the case in the tribunal and then in court, waste so much time, let’s just pay the taxman Rs25,000 bribe and get it over with.”

Improving the tax collection system has been an endemic problem for Pakistan, which faces massive budget shortfalls year after year.

According to some estimates, there are over 5 million people whose income information is traceable but only 1.5 million of them actually file the returns.

“On the one hand you have millions of people who have taxable incomes but don’t pay anything,” said a bank employee. “Then there are those few who file the returns and they are the ones being victimised. What kind of justice is this?”

FBR spokesman Shahid Hussain Asad was not immediately available for comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2014.

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