Taxpayers and importers were unable to deposit taxes in banks on Saturday despite opening of Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) field formations on weekend.
According to FBR’s instructions to the Inland Revenue field formations, the Large Taxpayer Units (LTUs), Medium Tax Offices (MTUs), Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) and the Corporate Tax Offices (CRTOs) remained open and observed normal working hours on Saturday (May 7).
Tax advisers told ProPakistani that the banks remained closed on Saturday, but the FBR’s field offices remained open. However, taxes cannot be deposited in the banks due to the bank holiday on Saturday.
Taxpayers have the option to deposit tax through an online system, but the majority of the taxpayers deposit cash through Challans at the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP). Around 90 percent of the taxpayers excluding companies deposit cash at the banks and most are not aware about the online facility of transfer or payment of taxes. Therefore, only 10 percent of the taxpayers i.e. corporate entities are availing the facility of depositing taxes through online services.
A tax expert added that Saturday was not the end of the month. Most of the taxpayers usually deposit taxes during the last days of month. Therefore, closure of banks on Saturday was not a major issue for the taxpayers.
Source: Pro Pakistan