ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has started processing income tax refunds for the tax year 2020 and issued instructions in this regard.
The FBR issued a notification to all the chief commissioners of tax offices stating that payment of refunds or adjustment of refund have identical financial impact for the exchequer and therefore, both warrant equal focus and application of mind so that no undue and undetermined refund is either paid out or adjusted to/by the taxpayers.
The FBR said that in this connection, the data of income tax refund applications had been obtained from field formations/PRAL for tax year 2020, and examined.
“The data transpire that out of the total refund claims of Rs74.313 billion in the tax year 2020, 6,073 applications covering an amount of Rs4.254 billion have been lodged,” the FBR said.
The FBR told the chief commissioners that current year’s refund liability should be paid out of the current year’s revenue stream and that no due refund should be withheld.
It would also help us ward off unnecessary complaints against us for delayed processing of refund applications and/or non-payment of refund to the taxpayers.
Therefore, the tax offices are advised to dispose of all applications lodged under section 170 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 by January 31, 2021.
