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a month ago

ONLINE TAX RETURN

NBR eyes doubling submission in FY26

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The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has set a target to double the number of online tax return submissions to 3.5 million in the current fiscal year (FY 2025-26), as online filing becomes mandatory for individual taxpayers starting today (Monday).

Last fiscal year, approximately 1.7 million out of 4.6 million registered taxpayers submitted their returns online.

NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan said the shift to mandatory e-filing will significantly reduce the time, cost, and hassle associated with fili3ng tax returns.

"We will set up help desks, release video tutorials, and offer other support facilities to assist taxpayers in submitting their returns online," he said.

Initially planned for 1 July 2025, the launch of the mandatory system was deferred to 4 August 2025 to allow for necessary system upgrades and to align the online return forms with changes introduced in the Finance Ordinance 2025.

Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed is expected to formally inaugurate the upgraded online tax return system today (Monday).

"The online form includes automatic tax calculation features to minimise mathematical errors," the NBR chief added.

Regarding tax deducted at source (TDS), the NBR is preparing to issue a formal request to the central bank to ease certain banking rules, enabling tax authorities to access data on TDS payments made by bank clients.

Several field-level officials have welcomed the mandatory system, stating that it will help curb alleged bribery during manual return processing.

However, the current online system does not allow taxpayers to attach supporting documents for income and expenditure declarations.

A senior field official noted that taxpayers must retain these documents for five years after submission so they can be produced if required for scrutiny. "We welcome the move despite some limitations, which we expect to resolve within the next two to three years," the official added.

Another tax commissioner, however, expressed concern about the system's readiness, calling the initiative ambitious.

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