Tax arrears recovery campaign launched

The Regional Tax Office (RTO), Karachi, has launched an arrears recovery campaign in a bid to achieve an annual budgetary target of Rs 113 billion for 2011-12. According to sources, the RTO, Karachi has started serving notices on individuals and registered businesses to generate additional revenue for national exchequer.
The notices are being issued under Section 48 of the Sales Tax Act of 1990 and Section 137(2) of the Income Tax Ordinance of 2001. Sources said that although the attainment of annual budgetary target appreared to be an uphill task, the department was making efforts for its substantial contribution in revenue collection. Moreover, they said that the arrears recovery was a routine process.
They said the department had so far collected Rs 90 million on account of income tax arrears, of which, some Rs 60 million was recovered from a single individual. Sources said that the growth in national revenue target was 26 per cent whereas the annual budgetary target of the RTO concerned was 70 per cent more than last year.
Tax offices, they said, had been forced to adopt illegal means, tarnishing the revenue body's image, adding that they had been forced to do so because of the unprecedented increase in annual revenue target. They urged the finance ministry to allow its revenue division to give inputs in the process of fixing annual revenue target besides eliminating the role of finance division in this regard.
Anwar Goraya, chief RTO, Karachi, said the tax office has collected Rs 62.25 billion between July 2011 and March 2012 against Rs 44.35 billion collected during the corresponding period last year, showing 40 per cent growth in revenue collection.
He said that the department had also witnessed 44 per cent growth on account of income tax as Rs 73.92 billion had been collected against Rs 46.42 billion recovered during the same period last year. Expressing optimism about attaining its annual revenue target, he said that the target would be achieved through measures like effective monitoring, liquidation of current and arrear tax demands, creation of tax demands through audit, effective monitoring of advance taxes and broadening of tax base.