FBR extends returns filing deadline to Oct 31

FBR says it received 1.890m income tax returns for current fiscal year against 1.875m returns received till end of Sep 30, 2022

By Our Correspondent
October 01, 2023
The Federal Board of Revenue building in Islamabad. — APP/File
The Federal Board of Revenue building in Islamabad. — APP/File

ISLAMABAD: With just a slight increase in absolute numbers of income tax returns filing of 1.89 million till September 30, 2023, the FBR has surpassed the tax collection target for the first quarter (July-September) period with a margin of Rs64 billion.

According to FBR’s high-ups, the board has collected Rs2,041 billion in the first quarter (July-September) period of the current fiscal year against the assigned target of Rs1,977 billion agreed with the IMF, indicating that the FBR surpassed its target with a margin of Rs64 billion.

For September 2023, the FBR had revenue collection of Rs834 billion against the assigned target of Rs799 billion, so it exceeded the target with a margin of Rs35 billion alone for the outgoing month. The FBR high-ups said it received 1.890 million income tax returns for the current fiscal year against 1.875 million returns received till the end of September 30, 2022.

In a formal announcement, it said for the first quarter of the current financial year, it has collected Rs2,041 billion (2022: 1,644 billion) against the assigned target of Rs1,978 billion, thus exceeding the target by Rs63 billion. The board has also put in exceptional efforts to achieve revenue targets for the month of September 2023. As against a target of Rs794 billion, FBR was able to collect Rs834 billion (2022: 688 billion), while refunds amounting to Rs37 billion were issued as compared to Rs18 billion issued in September 2022. However, severe import compression was witnessed during September 2023. During the previous month, taxes at the import stage were collected at Rs299 billion whereas during the current month, taxes at the import stage were only Rs254 billion. FBR was able to make up the shortfall of Rs45 billion through domestic taxes, especially direct taxes.

Meanwhile, the FBR granted an extension of one month for filing income tax returns up to October 31, 2023. The FBR issued a notification to this effect after getting approval of caretaker Minister for Finance Dr Shamshad Akhtar.