FBR to regularly collect data on foreign travelers for tax purposes

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is making serious attempts to obtain data on foreign travelers from the Immigration authorities regularly.

Sources told ProPakistani that a presidential Ordinance for the documentation of the economy, lying pending with the Law and Justice Division, would bind the Immigration authorities to transmit data of foreign travelers to the FBR regularly.

Sources said that the FBR needs a regular mechanism for the exchange of information with the banks, Immigration authorities, provincial excise departments/motor registration authorities and land authorities and other government departments. So far, the Ordinance is pending with the Law Division.

Under the draft Ordinance, the Ministry of Information Technology would be given a lead role in the data collection exercise from provinces to broaden the tax base. The data of one million non-filers has been communicated to the field formations of the FBR for registration of new taxpayers and enforced filing of returns.

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According to sources, all bank branches have implemented a real-time online/computer-based reporting system and recording of withholding taxes. The withholding taxes deducted are reported in real-time to the head offices of the banks. The head office deposits the tax into the government treasury within the stipulated period.

The banks are regularly filing statements under section (u/s) 165A of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 which contains information of all banks’ clients and the taxes deducted from all such clients. Banks also regularly file statements prescribed under section 149/165 of the Income Tax Ordinance.

It is learned that the caretaker government wanted to make it mandatory for all institutions and departments at federal and provincial levels to integrate their data regularly to register new filers of income tax returns.

The caretaker government analyzed that many departments and institutions at federal and provincial levels are not sharing their data with the FBR in regular and desirable format, making it impossible to convert data into taxability.