KTBA seeks extension for filing returns

KARACHI: Glitches in the online tax system made it difficult for the taxpayers to electronically file their monthly withholding statements, emboldening the need of extension in the current filing deadline, tax practitioners said on Monday.

President Rehan Hasan Jafri at Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA), in a letter sent to the Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), said the last date of filing monthly statement for July, which is expiring today (August 15), should be extended by 15 days.

Tax practitioners identified several irritants in e-filing monthly withholding statement. Jafri said the members of the bar and taxpayers are facing difficulties in e-filing monthly statement for July, especially uploading the challan of payment made under the head of salary.

He told the FBR chief that the tax rate under the salary head was automatically being calculated on the FBR’s web portal, namely Iris, for filing the statement and returns. The system is displaying the taxable salary at zero after validation. “Due to this anomaly the difference arises in actual tax payment,” he said. The issue was reported at FBR’s helpline several times and via e-mail, “but all in vain”.

The tax bar further said new withholding tax rates are not available on the portal. “The changes made through the Finance Act, 2016 in the withholding tax regime are not available on the Iris,” the KTBA said. Withholding agents are unable to upload the correct withholding tax.

The association said the online filing system is not accepting the exemption codes and calculating the prevailing rate of tax against the exempted tax. KTBA president urged the FBR chairman to address the problems, highlighted in the letter in order to avoid penalties on the taxpayers due to the delay in filing, which would not be their fault, but because of the system’s malfunctioning.