16 May 2004	Sunday	25 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, May 15: The tax authorities have proposed amendments in the income tax return form to get maximum information from the taxpayers.

Official sources told Dawn on Saturday that the decision to this effect was taken following an observation that most of the taxpayers this year had not provided complete information in their return forms.

The officials said that the proposed return form was being designed in a manner that would not only fulfil all the requirements of new income tax ordinance 2001 but also the provisions of the introduction of the universal self-assessment scheme (USAS) from the current fiscal year.

A preliminary meeting of senior tax officials was held here on Saturday to discuss the possible changes in the tax return form. They also considered a proposal to include only those information in the proposed form which they deemed necessary to collect from the taxpayer.

The analysis of the tax returns filed this year by the corporate and non-corporate sector and salaried class showed that most of them were left incomplete.

Under the proposed form, the taxpayers would have to write their NTN numbers and information regarding their utility bills and other business activities.

According to the statistics, only 0.692 million taxpayers have written correct NTNs in their income tax return forms this year out of the total tax returns of around one million.

According to the officials, the proposed form was under consideration with the relevant stakeholders to seek their opinion, comments and suggestions before finalizing it.

It was also under consideration that from the next financial year it would be made compulsory for all taxpayers to provide complete information as incomplete forms would not be accepted.

Following the approval of the finance minister, the new form was expected to be announced in the budget of 2004-05. It may be added that last year the government had also made a similar attempt to introduce amendments in the tax return form, which could not be materialized due the persistent opposition of thebusiness community.

However, the tax authorities were of the opinion that it was necessary to work out a comprehensive return form to collect maximum information from the taxpayers, which would be ultimately used for documentation of the economy.