CBR step to expedite refunds: RCITs told to retain return copies bearing claims

To expedite payment of income tax refund to business community, the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has directed all Regional Commissioners of Income Tax (RCITs) to retain copies of income tax returns with refund claims before dispatching the same to the Centralised Data Entry Centre at Islamabad. The CBR on Sunday issued instructions to all RCITs that income tax circles should retain the copies of returns in cases where refunds were claimed by the taxpayers.
These copies would help in speedy processing of refund claims by the field formations.
The RCITs must ensure that data entry exercise should not delay refund payment, it said. Sources told Business Recorder that the steering committee for implementation of self-assessment plan has taken a number of decisions to update the data for tax year 2003-04.
The CBR has directed commissioners that after filing of returns every change in the return/assessment, including issuance of refunds, has to be brought into system maintaining database.
This would be one-time exercise for tax year 2003, whereas for tax year 2004 the commissioners should report such changes to the system on monthly basis.
For this purpose, the RCITs should obtain this information on prescribed form from the field offices for incorporation in the database.
The information (updated data for tax year 2003) includes name and address of the assessee, NTN, returned income, taxable income, gross demand, tax payment, net demand/refund, income revised (if revised return filed), income assessed due to amended revised return and amount of refund issued.
The CBR has directed RCITs that a circle-wise report should be generated by Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (PRAL) on the basis of data entry of returns for tax year 2003. The report shall consist of three portions. The first segment should reflect cases of zero demand/refund.
The second portion should give details of refund cases, and cases of demand shall appear in the third part of the report.
The report should be dispatched to all zones/circles for utilisation in day-to-day official business. The CBR has asked the RCITs that consolidated data of the zone about changes in the returns/assessments for tax year 2003 be submitted to CBR by November 30, 2004.