President rejects FBR’s review plea regarding taxes on electricity bills

The President of Pakistan has rejected FBR’s review application regarding taxes on electricity bills and directed the revenue collection body to follow the guidelines of the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) in this regard, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The President directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to resolve the issue by constituting a committee comprising members from power distribution companies, government of Punjab and the representatives of Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO).

Against the imposition of extra taxes on power bills, number of tax payers had filed applications against the FBR in the FTO.

The customers having power bills less than Rs25,000 and customers with extra bills had demanded relief under income tax rules section 149.

In order to safeguard itself against FTO recommendations, FBR had filed review petition with President against FTO rules.

After the directives of President, government of Punjab will see improvement in tax collection. Meanwhile, it was revealed that during FBR’s action, Punjab government’s taxes were withheld for a long time. But now FBR agreed to provide relief to the tax filers in electricity bills.

The President rejected FBR’s review application on March 4 and directed it to constitute three members high powered committee to take the up matter and decide as per the law.

The President directed the FBR to give relief to masses and tax filers in power bills. The complainants against FBR policy included journalists, political activists, retirees and serving officers.

Reporter: Kalim Akhtar