64pc TIN holders fail to submit returns within extended deadline

Though the government has made mandatory the submission of tax returns to get more than 40 services, the response remained poor.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) extended time twice for return submission in the fiscal year 2022-23, despite this move, the number of returns remained around 3.0 million out of around 8.20 million TIN holders, NBR sources said on Sunday.

As per the provisional data of NBR around 36 per cent of TIN holders have submitted income tax returns. As a result, the direct tax volume of NBR is not increasing despite time extension and raising awareness.

According to the Income Tax Act, November 30 is the deadline for submission of income tax returns, but the NBR extended the time by one month in view of the demands of professional organisations including FBCCI.

There are currently over 8.20 million Tax Identification Number (TIN) taxpayers in the country. In 2016, the Income Tax Ordinance changed and it was decided not to file returns after National Tax Day on November 30. So, the path to time extension is closed.

However, last two years the period was extended by one month considering the Covid-19 pandemic and the global situation in the domestic economy.

The income tax fair was not held under one roof to meet the expectations of taxpayers. All 31 tax offices of the country provided services to taxpayers in a festive atmosphere in November.

As per Income Tax Guidelines 2022-23, proof of return filing has been made mandatory for 40 types of services. Due to this e-TIN holders have no option to file returns. If not, people will have to face various complications to get different services.