ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has stopped manual processing of income tax refunds and directed tax offices that tax refunds will be processed at central level through State Bank of Pakistan (SBP.
According to sources, the FBR issued an office order to all chief commissioners of Large Taxpayers Offices (LTOs), Medium Taxpayers Offices (MTOs), Corporate Tax Offices (CTOs) and Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) regarding issuance of Income Tax Refunds through SBP from collection head of income tax.
The FBR said that henceforth income tax refunds will be processed at central level through SBP. “Field formations should send refund lists as and when asked by the FBR on given format and instructions,” it added.
The FBR directed Commissioners Inland Revenue to ensure legality and propriety of order under Section 170(4) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.
Further, being custodian of jurisdiction and physical record of cases the responsibility of validity and correctness of refund orders rest with field formation.
“Henceforth, no manual income tax refunds will be processed. Therefore, Chief Commissioners-IR are required to keep all voucher books in safe custody.”
However, in refund cases where court/FTO recommendations are in field these may be sent separately for processing, the FBR added.