The due date for submitting income tax returns for the tax year 2023–24 was once again extended until October 31 by the Federal Board of Revenue on Tuesday.

The deadline of October 14 was earlier. The first deadline for filing tax returns was September 30, as stated in the income tax ordinance.

A three-day bank closure in Islamabad and Rawalpindi owing to the SCO summit, along with a request for an extension from business organizations and tax bar associations, are all included in the FBR.

4.537 million income tax returns were filed as of October 14, according to the FBR, an increase of 107.83 percent over the 2.183 million forms filed during the same period last year. The FBR got 6.464 million returns for the most recent tax year. It forecasts 1.927 million more returns to match the level of previous year.

Based on initial statistics, 1.059 million new filers were enrolled throughout the same time in 2024, from July 1, 2023, to October 14, 2024.

The Chief Financial Officer of a well-known battery company has been placed under arrest for his suspected involvement in a sales tax evasion scheme worth over Rs. 1 billion, according to FBR Spokesman Bakhtiar Muhammad.

According to the FBR spokesperson, the Chief Financial Officer of a significant textile company in Faisalabad was also detained for his alleged role in millions of rupees’ worth of sales tax fraud.

According to Bakhtiar Muhammad, the third suspect was detained for allegedly avoiding tax fraud totaling billions of rupees.

He claimed that when the court denied bail, suspects were taken into custody.

Details of Pakistan’s annual tax evasion were previously disclosed by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Thursday.

The minister disclosed that Pakistan’s yearly tax evasion revenue is close to Rs7,000 billion. According to him, efforts are being made to enlarge the tax base and restructure Pakistan’s tax structure.

The minister also declared a “war against tax evaders” in Pakistan and acknowledged that the nation’s salary class bears the brunt of tax burdens.

Additionally, Aurangzeb stated that the goal is to raise the economy’s tax contribution to 13.5 percent.

It should be mentioned that the FBR spokesperson previously stated that the organization is prepared to add over 2.8 million prospective homes to the tax system, which would generate an estimated Rs1.6 trillion in revenue for the country.

“Approximately 3.5 million high-income households are required to pay taxes to the government; however, 2.8 million of them do not pay taxes,” FBR Spokesperson Bakhtiar Muhammad said APP.

Potatoes are officially priced at Rs 80 per kg, but they can fetch more to Rs 150 per kg in marketplaces. Likewise, peas that ought to cost around Rs. 250 are now closer to Rs. 400, and the official price of ginger has risen from Rs. 900 to an unsettling Rs. 1,200 per kilogram.

Claiming that they are unable to procure veggies at the prices listed, local retailers attribute the disparity to market supply limitations.

Despite these obstacles, the local government reported that more than 2,600 profiteers had received fines totaling more than Rs 19 million.

The administration promised to take additional measures going forward.