KARACHI, Sept 22: The Southern Region of Income Tax, Karachi has set up separate counters for receiving returns from ladies and senior citizen. These counters will start functioning from Tuesday on the ground floor of the Income Tax Building.

Special counters for receiving tax returns from the taxpayers of five tax zones of the city are already operating from first of this month. Besides, information and help desk are also there to facilitate taxpayers and provide them necessary information and guidance.

The Southern Region has also established National Tax Number enquiry desk to assist taxpayers in getting their tax number within 24 hours. Application forms (IT-B), which are available at the desk for new taxpayers, could be filled in and submitted along with photo-copy of National Identity Card for individuals. In case of partnership, beside, photo-copy of NIC, agreement papers will also have to be submitted along with the application form. A bank challan of Rs50 will have to be paid by the applicant as a postal cost for the NTN.

Presently, three counters for each zone are functioning and their number will be enhanced as the rush of taxpayers increases in coming days. But presently the Zone D which caters to salaried class there are five counters. These counters daily start receiving tax return from 9 am to 4 pm and the time will be extended a couple of days ahead of last date of Sept 30, 2003.

Similar arrangements have been made in other zones of the Southern Region, like Hyderabad, Sukkur and Quetta. The regional tax offices have been authorized to issue NTN number and there is a major drive to enhance the number of taxpayers in the country.

All category of taxpayers, except for limited companies will have to file their tax return up to Sept 30, including Association of Persons (AOPs), individuals, and salaried class. However, limited companies such as sugar and textile mills who operate on the pattern of crops will also have to meet this date for filing of returns.

The Regional Commissioner of Income Tax (RCIT), Southern Region, Karachi S M Athar told Dawn that the thrust of present tax policy was on promotion of voluntary compliance and in order to achieve this goal all sort of facilities are being provided to taxpayers.

He said that initial response from taxpayers for the Universal Self-Assessment Scheme (USAS) is encouraging. Responding to a question, he said minor changes had been made in tax return forms to make it computer-friendly.

S M Athar did not agree that under USAS large number of cases will be selected for detailed audit and said that firstly there is a limit to the capacity of the tax department to go into such a lengthy exercise secondly, he maintained that under present tax policy the focus is on voluntary compliance and not on using coercive measures.

The RCIT said that the USAS is more taxpayers’ friendly than the previous such schemes which had put a lot many conditions to qualify. Under these scheme, he said, there would be no need of assessment order as the return will itself be taken as an order.

He said that hardly 5 to 7 per cent of total USAS cases could be selected for audit not at random basis but on parametric basis, therefore, there was no question of any sort of harassment or foul play.

The regional commissioner appreciated the Tax Bar’s role in promoting new tax culture and said the time has come when both the tax collectors and taxpayers have to change their mind set because the government has embarked upon the task to promote voluntary compliance.