KARACHI: Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Thursday announced a 15-day extension in the due date for filing income tax returns.
The finance minister made the announcement after listening to the problems being faced by the taxpayers in filing income tax returns, which were highlighted by a delegation of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) at a meeting held in Islamabad.
Tarin announced to extend the last date for filing income tax returns by 15 days till October 15, 2021.
The KCCI delegation, which was led by Businessmen Group chairman and former president of the KCCI Zubair Motiwala, comprised of BMG vice chairmen Haroon Farooki and Jawed Bilwani, general secretary A Q Khalil and KCCI president Muhammad Idrees who appreciated the finance minister for understanding the hardships being faced by the taxpayers in filing income tax returns and accordingly announced a relief.
The delegation members, while underscoring the need to modify the ineffective taxation policies, expressed concerns over the implementation of the Tax Laws (Third Amendment) Ordinance, 2021, which, they feared, would start from Karachi, as it has been observed from time-to-time that all such laws carrying penalties always start from Karachi and stay confined mostly to this city only.
If Karachi has to pay all the taxes and suffer penalties, as well, then why was Karachi not receiving development funds in proportion to its contribution? They asked and reiterated the KCCI’s demand to replace the term ‘under-filers’ in the controversial ordinance with ‘non-filers’.