Al Amin :
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is eying doubling source tax collection through Tax Deduction at Source (e-TDS) system in the upcoming Fiscal Year (2022-23).
The automation system will help prevent tax evasion, to trace cash transaction of the tax deducting authorities and minimize delay in depositing taxes to the government exchequer, the NBR officials said.
Making the tax deduction authorities habituated into the system and turning it into a permanent shape are the big challenge as most of the taxpayers are unaware about it, they said.
They said NBR will undertake an automation project in this regard and will form a dedicated IT team to supervise the system to make the system a successful one.
The NBR collects 64 per cent of its direct tax as TDS every year.
Around 4500 out of 350,000 companies have already registered with the automated system to pay source tax so far. But, the number of the registered companies is expected to be doubled in the upcoming fiscal year, they said.
Meeting the target, NBR will arrange sufficient training sessions for the stakeholders and awareness programmes to disseminate information, the officials said. The NBR will take measures to make the tax collection system a sustainable so that the taxpayers will be able to deduct tax at source in a simplified way and deposit it to the pubic exchequer, they said.
A 21-member team of tax officials has developed the e-TDS system through interconnecting with the automated challan or AChallan system of finance ministry.
The tax-deducting authorities have to submit 26 types of reports manually to the taxman in a year but all the reports would now be submitted through the e-TDS system without visiting tax offices, the officials said.
“The automated system would bring transparency in the tax-collection process. System will collect tax instead of the taxman,” AKM Badiul Alam, Commissioner (Tax), told The New Nation. The e-TDS system should be integrated with the online tax returns and e-payment system to make it more successful. The e-TDS system will also help minimise differences between tax revenue collection data of the NBR and the controller general of accounts.
Using the system, the officials said, taxpayers will be able to deposit TDS through mobile financial services, credit card or any scheduled bank.
The system will be integrated with the online return system, IVAS of VAT and all the financial institutions in future.
Currently, taxmen are monitoring TDS deposit of corporate taxpayers under 53 sections of the Income Tax Ordinance-1984.
