Filing tax returns a requisite for army promotions.

Byline: Shahbaz Rana

ISLAMABAD -- Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Bajwa has made filing of income tax returns as one of the criteria for promotions as the military endorses campaign for broadening of the tax base, said a senior official of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday.

'The military is very much concerned about the tax base of the country and Gen Bajwa has already filed his income tax return last month,' said the FBR Member Facilitation and Taxpayers Education (FATE) Hamid Ateeq Sarwar. Sarwar along with two other senior FBR members spoke to the media a day after the government exempted the salaried class from paying penalties on late filing of the returns.

'Being non-filer could now affect promotions in the army,' said Sarwar while responding to a question about the tax contributions by the Pakistan Army. The comments have been made at a time when the tax authorities face a gigantic task of broadening the extremely narrow tax base.

Only two days are left in the close of the last deadline for filing...