ISLAMABAD: To facilitate taxpayers in filing of their income tax returns electronically, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is planning to register third parties to provide flexible and user friendly platforms for e-filing of tax returns and offering Active Taxpayer List (ATL) services.
Sources told Business Recorder that the third-party alliance shall generate greater competition in the software industry, providing taxpayers to choose and work over a preferable platform. Third party inclusion shall profit FBR in broadening tax net and increase revenue collection with the help of private consultancy firms/companies.
In line with the vision of ease of doing business, the Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (PRAL) has invited third party independent solution providers to become PRAL partners by providing IT Solutions using Enterprise Service Platform with a view to provide software development organizations with state-of-the-art APIs (Application Program Interface). This would be instrumental in developing new and more sophisticated software products to facilitate the taxpayer and help FBR to achieve its key objectives of maximizing revenue, improving customer experience, and minimizing costs. This will also generate greater competition in the software industry, which will result in more choice for taxpayer.
The PRAL aims to encourage new organizations into the tax software market to build APIs with richer capabilities at the same time allowing existing tax software development organizations to improve their existing capabilities.
The IT Industry has welcomed this initiative of FBR/PRAL and renowned IT companies have developed user friendly e-Filing solutions. FBR is developing necessary SOPs for ensuring facilitation of taxpayers with adequate security of the taxpayer's data, which will hopefully be introduced from next tax year, i.e., TY-2021.
Experts are of the view that FBR/PRAL should put more efforts in finalizing the SOPs and introducing the third party based e-filing system so that the taxpayers may be facilitated for e-Filing of Tax Returns for TY-2020 and the FBR's IT System may be relieved from burden in peak timings. This initiative will help FBR in broadening of tax base and will also be instrumental in collecting more revenue.
Recently FBR Member IT Asim Ahmad was very much optimistic that the FBR is considering allowing other private consultancy firms/companies for placing online facilities/apps for filing of income tax returns. Asim Ahmad informed medai that the FBR also developed Asaan TaxAap and this could be downloaded on phone within next few days and the FBR will also allow other companies to develop such software to facilitate return filing in future, he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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