The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has allowed expenditures against bad debt with certain conditions under Section 29 of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.
The FBR issued the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 updated up to June 30, 2021. The Ordinance incorporated amendments brought through Finance Act, 2021.
29. Bad debts.— (1) A person shall be allowed a deduction for a bad debt in a tax year if the following conditions are satisfied, namely:—
(a) the amount of the debt was –
(i) previously included in the person’s income from business chargeable to tax; or
(ii) in respect of money lent by a financial institution in deriving income from business chargeable to tax;
(b) the debt or part of the debt is written off in the accounts of the person in the tax year; and
(c) there are reasonable grounds for believing that the debt is irrecoverable.
(2) The amount of the deduction allowed to a person under this section for a tax year shall not exceed the amount of the debt written off in the accounts of the person in the tax year.
(3) Where a person has been allowed a deduction in a tax year for a bad debt and in a subsequent tax year the person receives in cash or kind any amount in respect of that debt, the following rules shall apply, namely:–
(a) where the amount received exceeds the difference between the whole of such bad debt and the amount previously allowed as a deduction under this section, the excess shall be included in the person’s income under the head “Income from Business” for the tax year in which it was received; or
(b) where the amount received is less than the difference between the whole of such bad debt and the amount allowed as a deduction under this section, the shortfall shall be allowed as a bad debt deduction in computing the person’s income under the head “Income from Business” for the tax year in which it was received.
29A. Provision regarding consumer loans.— (1) A non-banking finance company or the House Building Finance Corporation shall be allowed a deduction, not exceeding three per cent of the income for the tax year, arising out of consumer loans for creation of a reserve to off-set bad debts arising out of such loans.
(2) Where bad debt cannot be wholly set off against reserve, any amount of bad debt, exceeding the reserves shall be carried forward for adjustment against the reserve for the following years.
Explanation.— In this section, “consumer loan” means a loan of money or its equivalent made by a non-banking finance company or the House Building Finance Corporation to a debtor (consumer) and the loan is entered primarily for personal, family or household purposes and includes debts created by the use of a lender credit card or similar arrangement as well as insurance premium financing.
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