ISLAMABAD - The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has started an extensive drive to boost the filing of income tax returns by reaching out to large public and private sector organisations and companies, facilitating their employees with taxable income to file their tax returns.

A team of FBR's Facilitation and Taxpayers Education (FATE) wing led by FATE Member Nausheen Javaid Amjad and assisted by FATE chief Tehmina Aamer visited the offices of large organisations headquartered in Islamabad and sought their help and support in motivating their employees to file their tax returns. FBR has compiled a list of over 50 large corporations, financial institutions and companies to be approached by FBR within the next few days to explain to them how a majority of their employees with taxable income are failing to fulfil a national obligation by not filing their income tax returns.

As part of this initiative, FBR's team met the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) managing director and presidents of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) and Askari Bank Limited to apprise them of a keen desire within FBR to work with these organisations to provide them with all possible assistance and facilitation to convert their non-filing employees into filers.

Nausheen said FBR was cognizant of the fact that large organisations and companies were ably fulfilling their responsibility of reporting salary paid and taxes withheld from their employees. However, there was a need for their top management now to step in and support FBR by emphasizing the importance of filing tax return to their employees and assuring necessary facilitation in this regard.

She said FBR is willing to conduct in-house facilitative training sessions and workshops in e-filing for their officers and staff of these organisations to help them file their income tax returns without any hassle. She said the filing of returns could result in potential advantages to the employees and save them from paying higher differential rate of taxes introduced for the filers and non-filers.

The OGDCL MD and presidents of ZTBL and Askari Bank appreciated the FBR's efforts for broadening of tax base and welcomed its technical support and facilitation in e-filing for their employees. They assured their full cooperation in ensuring maximum compliance and filing of tax returns by their employees.