ISLAMABAD: Due to an administrative lapse, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) placed all non-resident Pakistanis in the category of non-filers as their IRIS passwords were not restored, it was reported on Monday.
Sources said that the Federal Board of Revenue even failed to issue Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the non-resident Pakistanis in this regard.
Despite many reminders from the Lahore Tax Bar Association (LTBA), the Federal Board of Revenue failed to take any measures to address the issue.
LTBA urged the FBR to restore the status of non-resident Pakistanis to Active Taxpayers status and give them another chance to submit their tax returns without any penalty.
It is necessary to mention here that the deadline for filing income tax returns for the current tax year expired on Oct 31, with late filers facing penalties.
According to Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) sources, taxpayers who had submitted applications seeking an extension before the original deadline may be exempt from the late-filing penalties.
More than 7.8 million income tax returns were filed across the country by the Oct 31 deadline, while 1,945 returns were submitted under the Traders’ Easy Tax Scheme.
