The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) would issue notices to over 20,000 companies and 40,000 to 45,000 Association of Persons (AOPs) to immediately e-enroll with the FBR electronic system and file their returns for Tax Year 2009 to avoid blockage of imports under "Active Taxpayer List."
Sources told Business Recorder that the Board would issue warning notices to companies and AOPs having National Tax Numbers (NTNs) to ensure their availability on the "Active Taxpayer List". Otherwise, their imports could be blocked due to persistent non-compliance. Through the respective Regional Tax Offices (RTOs), the FBR will issue notices to over and above 20,000 companies and 40,000-45,000 AOPs to get enrolment with the e-system of the FBR for electronic filing of their returns. In case of non-compliance, their names would not be included in the "Active Taxpayer List," which may result in blockage of their imports. The non-compliant companies and AOPs would not be included in the "Active Taxpayer List".
The FBR has also finalised the draft rules regarding the "Active Taxpayer List" to be notified through amendment in the Income Tax Rules 2002.
According to sources, the FBR has finalised the "Active Taxpayer List" for the business community, which would be provisionally placed on the FBR website for comments in January 2011. The final list would be displayed by the FBR after obtaining comments of the stakeholders. In this way, the FBR will systematically made public the "Active Taxpayer List" to ensure placement of the authentic list on its website. Before formal launching of the scheme in March 2011, the FBR will circulate the provisional list among the taxpayers.
Sources said that the FBR would also introduce an electronic inquiry system to check the NTNs of the taxpayers falling within the category of "individuals".
The FBR has already declared non-filers of income tax returns/monthly withholding tax statements as 'inactive taxpayers', and advised the registered taxpayers to avoid transactions with 'non-active' taxpayers, which would result in declaring such buyers as 'non-active' taxpayers.
The Board would suspend income tax registrations of persons, who would fail to file income tax returns, annual employer statements, withholding tax statements, wealth statements and advance tax payments by removing their names from the "Active Taxpayers' List."
Sources said that the FBR has finalised arrangements to announce the biggest enforcement measure to suspend income tax registrations of non-compliant taxpayers. The persons whose names being excluded from "Active Taxpayers' List" would not be considered as 'registered persons'. The income tax registration of those taxpayers would also be suspended who would not respond to the notices issued by the department under Income Tax Ordinance 2001. The FBR would take extreme action against the non-compliant taxpayers under the scheme of "Active Taxpayers' List."