The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has collected income tax of Rs 41.895 billion up till October 12, 2021, while a total of 2.213 million income tax returns have been filed for the tax year 2021 so far.

Official sources told ProPakistani that the FBR has collected Rs. 41.397 billion through 2.190 million income tax returns filed till October 11.

Data released a couple of weeks ago showed that the FBR has already surpassed its tax collection target of Rs. 1.21 trillion set for the first quarter of the fiscal year (FY) 2021-2022. It collected a total of Rs. 1391 billion worth of taxes in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, which shows a growth of 38 percent year-over-year.

The FBR extended the deadline for filing of returns from 30 September to 15 October due to technical difficulties.

Pakistan and the International Monetary Funds are currently holding in-person discussions on the country’s financial and revenue collection performance. The IMF has proposed raising the FBR’s annual tax target for the current fiscal year to $6.3 trillion from $5.8 trillion.

The FBR recently announced that it could now freeze taxpayers’ bank accounts without any prior approval of the chairman of the board and without informing the account owners before.

A few days ago, the board also announced that it was developing a sales tax portal that would allow individuals to file unified goods and services tax returns.

In addition, the board said that it would initiate disciplinary proceedings against inquiry officers who failed to submit reports against corrupt tax officials within the given deadline.

Source: Pro Pakistani