The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Wednesday called for a one-month extension to the deadline for filing income tax returns, citing technical problems with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)’s online filing system.
FPCCI Senior Vice President Saqib Rafiq Magoon urged the government to extend the deadline to Oct. 31 from Sept. 30, saying taxpayers were facing repeated slowdowns, technical glitches and downtime on the FBR’s IRIS portal. He said taxpayers also needed additional time to complete wealth reconciliation amid complexities arising from recent tax laws and reporting requirements.
He said rising inflation and higher business costs had added to difficulties faced by small and medium-sized enterprises, while an extension would help taxpayers complete their returns and potentially increase the number of active tax filers.
Magoon urged the prime minister, finance minister and FBR chairman to take immediate notice of the problems, saying allowing additional time rather than rushing taxpayers would help improve tax compliance
According to the FBR, around 5.2 million income tax returns have been filed as of Sept. 30, including around 1.3 million returns submitted by new taxpayers. By contrast, around 3.2 million tax returns were filed by the same date last year.
Apart from the FPCCI, the Pakistan Tax Bar Association has also called on the government and FBR to extend the deadline, citing compliance difficulties faced by taxpayers.