The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will launch ‘Tax Asaan Portal’ next week to provide complete details of the financial transactions of millions of non-filers to register, pay taxes, and come into the documented regime.

Sources told Business Recorder here on Thursday that the FBR will launch the ‘Tax Asaan Portal’ with the help of Nadra’s tax profiling of the non-filers of income tax returns.

The data available both with the FBR as well as the Nadra would be made part of the profiling of the non-filers and estimated tax liability.

The portal would provide complete details of the movable and immovable assets of non-filers besides all their financial transactions. The portal would also calculate the estimated tax of the non-filers.

The non-filers would receive SMS on their mobile phone to access the Tax Asaan Portal. They would check the details of their assets and estimated tax liability. The non-filers would be given time to check and verify the details and voluntarily file returns and pay the due amount of taxes.

The FBR has given a unique opportunity to the non-filers to file their returns free of cost.

The FBR has already collected information about the assets and expenditures of the persons outside the tax net from various sources. This information shall be made available to persons outside the tax net through Tax Asaan Portal.

In case of non-compliance, the FBR or the commissioner having jurisdiction over the person mentioned in the income tax general order may order restoration of mobile phones, mobile phone SMS and connections of electricity and gas, in cases where he is satisfied that the return has been filed; or person was not liable to file a return under the provisions of the Income Tax Ordinance.

Under new Section 114B of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001, the Board shall have the powers to issue income tax general order in respect of persons who are not appearing on the ATL but are liable to file a return under the provisions of this Ordinance. The income tax general order may entail consequences for the persons mentioned therein: Disabling of mobile phones or mobile phone SIMs; discontinuance of electricity connection; and discontinuance of gas connection.

This report was first published in Business Recorder on February 10, 2022.