The Federal Board of Revenue has directed the project directors of 2,300 public sector development projects to submit evidence of withholding tax deduction on payments made to local/foreign consultants, salaries of employees and contract work awarded during execution of government projects in 2007-08.
Sources told Business Recorder on Friday that the FBR's tax departments including Medium Taxpayer Units (MTUs) and Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) have approached the concerned ministries for monitoring of withholding tax on public sector development projects.
The exercise has been launched countrywide to verify the withholding tax deduction on payments made at different stages in these projects. The government projects having huge financial outlays during 2007-08 have been transmitted to the concerned director generals of tax offices.
The proofs of all such kinds of payments have to be submitted by the project directors of public sector development projects during the period under review. For example, MTUs have started monitoring and audit of taxes deducted and deposited by the project directorates for public sector development projects.
The project directors of the PSDP (2007-2008) have been directed to submit information on tax deducted and evidence of the same deposited in the national exchequer, particularly payments made to the foreign/local consultants.
The board had compiled a list of 2,300 public sector development projects, for collection of withholding tax from this major non-compliant area under various provisions of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001.
A preliminary analysis of the lists submitted by various RTOs has revealed that such projects have not been included in the list of withholding agents. Unless and until they are declared as withholding agents, their monitoring is apparently doubtful.
The Director Generals, LTUs/RTOs, have included the names and addresses of the project directors in the list of concerned tax office. The field officials should also obtain the names and addresses of the project directors for monitoring and documentation purposes. Director generals of the LTUs/MTUs/RTOs would focus on all 2,300 public sector development projects with the help of data available with the Planning Commission.