ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue issued a notification on Thursday, announcing audit amnesty for those taxpayers who declare 25 per cent more income during the tax year 2013 from a year ago.

The scheme will be available on the tax returns filed until Dec 15, 2013. So far 200,000 people have filed their tax return online.

Those people, who did not declare or pay 25pc more in the tax year 2013 over the previous year and selected for audit under the computer random balloting, cannot avail the exemption from the audit.

This was the first scheme in the series of amnesty packages for the tax evaders announced by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recently as part of package for the business community.

The notification SRO1040 made further amendments in the second schedule of the income tax ordinance 2001. Moreover, taxpayers availing the audit exemption will be required to file a separate pro forma.

The government has announced the Universal Self-Assessment Scheme (USAS) under which returns will be accepted without questioning the declared income of the taxpayers. The USAS has been followed by strong audit.

In the past one decade or so, government has suspended the audit of taxpayers who were allowed to conceal their actual income leading to tax evasion.

A tax official, who declined to be named, said the government had no teeth to put hands on the powerful elites unwilling to pay their actual income tax. “We have failed to carry out audit in the past despite many reasons,” the official admitted.

Defending the amnesty, the official said this is the only easy option for the government to generate a few extra billions from tax evaders.

Through another SRO1035, the FBR has issued draft banking companies reporting requirements rules. These rules will become final after seven days of publication in the official gazette.

The FBR will entertain objections or suggestions on the draft before the expiry of the deadline.

As per the amendment through Finance Act, 2013, by inserting new section 165A in Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, government allowed FBR to have online access to the data held by banking companies.