Salaried class pays nearly Rs200b in taxes

Income tax payment by the salaried class increased by Rs 72 billion to nearly Rs 200 billion in just five months of the current financial year. Unable to use transaction information to their obligatory part.Employees of the four provincial governments paid Rs33 billion in income tax, up Rs17 billion, or 109%. Federal government employees paid Rs20 billion, which was Rs8 billion, or 71%, more than last year.FBR received less than Rs 13 billion for supply of goods to traders. The share of taxes from salaried people was 1,423 percent higher than the combined taxes received from the supply of goods to traders. The FBR chairman has told a cabinet committee that it is understaffed, with only 355 auditors on the domestic tax side, which has limited its day-to-day audit activities.. There is a shortage of 1,559 auditors from the country’s tax side and 60 auditors from the customs side for post-clearance audit. However, recovery through tax demand is said to be a lengthy process, which usually appears in quarterly and half-yearly numbers. FBR has also used audit as a tool to collect taxes in advance to meet its monthly targets. It often goes to the extent of freezing the bank accounts of companies. During the July-November period, the FBR received Rs 483 billion in advance income tax, mostly on account of legally required tax payments. This amount was 20% more than last fiscal year. In September 2022, Pakistan LNG Limited sought protection from the Islamabad High Court against “unconstitutional, illegal and unethical actions of the FBR.” Sections of Income Tax Ordinance 2001 by FBR137 and proceeded against the firm and “illegally liquidated the capital reserves in Habib Metropolitan Bank and National Bank of Pakistan located in Islamabad.