Deceased taxpayers: FBR issues SOP for deregistration of NTNs, STRNs

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for deregistration of National Tax Numbers (NTNs) and sales tax registration numbers (STRNs) of deceased taxpayers.

The FBR has issued the SOP in line with the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) recommendation in complaint no 1345/ISB/ST 2023.

The FTO has recommended that the FBR is required to revisit the entire scheme of deregistration of deceased persons and formulate a dedicated SOP in this regard specifically removing any system based glitches that hamper the deletion of NTN /Registration despite legal orders having been made in IRIS by the concerned IR authority and Report Compliance within 120 days.

Based upon FTO’s recommendations FBR has issued following Standard Operating Procedure:

(i) Verification of the death certificate and other relevant documents: Obtain an official death certificate from the concerned authorities (i.e. NADRA). Ensure that the death certificate contains accurate details of the deceased individual such as name, CNIC number and date of death.

(ii) Change of status in IRIS as “verified as Deceased” by the commissioner: Once the concerned commissioner verifies the necessary documents, he will modify the form of registration of the taxpayer by marking his status as “verified as deceased” and the subsequent steps for recovery of outstanding liabilities shall follow.

(iii) Discharging any outstanding liabilities or obligations of the deceased taxpayer: The concerned CIR shall evaluate any outstanding tax liabilities, penalties or obligations that the deceased taxpayer may have owed and proceed for the recovery of the same as stipulated in section 87 of the income tax ordinance 2001. The outstanding liabilities for the purpose of sales tax may be determined in terms of Rule 11(4) of the sales Tax Rules, 2006 of deceased taxpayer and to be recovered.

(iv) Order of cancellation of registrations of NTN/STRN: The concerned CIR shall issue an order for the cancellation of registration or NTN and STRN of a deceased person in IRIS, as per Rule 82 (5) of Income Tax Rules 2002 and under Rule 11 of the Sales Tax Rules 2006 after verifying the death certificate and other relevant documents.

(v) Updating the taxpayer’s status in IRIS and related databases: After issuance of order of cancellation of NTN/STRN, the concerned CIR shall forward the same to LRO (Local Registration Officer) to update the taxpayer’s status as “deceased” in the IRIS system and other related databases and to remove the taxpayer’s details from active taxpayer lists.

(vi) Communicating the deregistration to legal heirs or representatives of the deceased taxpayer: The concerned CIR shall formally notify the legal heirs or representatives of the deceased taxpayer about deregistration along with the copy of “Order of cancellation of Registration” of NTN/STRN.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023