1.6m people file income tax returns so far.

Byline: Imran Ali Kundi

ISLAMABAD -- Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday said that as many as 1.6 million people had filed their income tax returns so far.

The officials of the FBR, while briefing the parliamentary committee, said that 2.6 million people had filed their income tax returns in previous year. So far, in the current year, around 1.6 million people had filed their returns and it is expected that number of filers would increase at the end of deadline. The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, which met under the chair of Senator Farooq H Naik, has discussed the process of filing income tax returns. The officials have informed the committee that large number of people filed their returns by online process. Only 20,224 people have filed their returns manually this year as compared to 30,000 in the previous year. The committee recommended that government should maintain the facility of filing returns manually for the far-flung areas.

The committee has also discussed the condition related to Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) for traders. The committee was informed that government and traders had made an agreement in this regard. As per the agreement, the government will not take action against those violating the CNIC condition by the end of January 2020. But action may be taken after three months. Committee member Senator Talha...