The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is facing legal problems in issuance of a statutory regulatory order (SRO) for imposing restrictions on imports and exports of registered taxpayers, who would be excluded from the 'List of Active Taxpayers'.
Sources told Business Recorder on Saturday that the legal changes, like imposition of ban on the imports/exports of non-compliant or inactive taxpayers, require amendment in the tax laws. The FBR is examining the issue to determine whether such provision could be introduced through an SRO. The FBR was required to issue the necessary SRO from January 1, 2010, but so far such notification has not yet been issued.
The board wanted to obtain legal backing for restricting imports and exports to only registered taxpayers covered under the 'List of Active Taxpayers'. The FBR would introduce necessary changes in the IT systems of the customs clearance processes to restrict imports/exports to only the 'List of Active Taxpayers'. The units not covered under the 'List of Active Taxpayers' would be restrained from making clearance of imported consignments till they become 'active'.
The 'List of Active Taxpayers' has been issued and subsequently placed on the FBR website. The list covers taxpayers registered with the sales tax and federal excise department. Now, the FBR is finalising parameters to include income taxpayers into the 'List of Active Taxpayers'. A 'risky taxpayer list' was also notified on the FBR website for a few days but has been withdrawn till January 2010 because taxpayers had serious apprehensions of the criteria for placing units on the 'risky taxpayer list'. Taxpayers also sought appropriate warning time before placing an taxpayer on the 'risky taxpayer list'.
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