Govt to waive penalty on late filing of tax returns

The government has decided to waive penalty for late filing of tax returns, State Minister for Revenue Hammad Azhar said on Tuesday.

In a tweet, he said the mandatory audit of the salaried group of late filers has also been withdrawn.

The government has decided to waive the penalty for late filing along with audit for Salaried Group of late filer cases. These cases were selected for audit and penalty was prescribed by the previous government. This govt is committed on facilitating people in filing returns.

— Hammad Azhar (@Hammad_Azhar) November 27, 2018

These cases were selected for audit and penalty was prescribed by the previous government, the minister added.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) extended the deadline to file annual income tax returns and wealth statements to November 30, 2018.

The last date for filing the returns for 2016-17 was earlier announced to be September 30, 2018 as The Pakistan Tax Bar Association (PTBA), in a letter to the FBR chairperson, had sought an extension in the deadline to file returns for 2018.

All those whose annual salary from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018 above Rs400,000 are required to file their income tax returns along with wealth statement for the financial year 2017-18.