NBR Notes No-Nonsense on ‘Zero Return’ Filings

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has issued a stern warning against misleading posts on social media regarding so-called “zero return” filings, describing them as misconceptions. In its statement, the NBR emphasized that submitting a zero return is a punishable offense, carrying a potential prison sentence of up to five years.

In a press release on Sunday, August 10, the NBR explained that from July 1 to November 30, individual taxpayers are required to file their annual income tax returns, detailing their income and expenditures for the year.

According to the press release, “Failure to disclose the taxpayer’s actual income, expenditure, assets, and liabilities—whether by showing any of these as zero or presenting all of them as zero—is completely illegal and constitutes a criminal offense. Providing false or incorrect information instead of accurate details on income, expenditure, assets, and liabilities in the submitted return is punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment under Sections 312 and 313 of the current Income Tax Act.”

The NBR noted that it had observed certain misleading posts on social media promoting the false idea that taxpayers can submit returns by filling in all fields of the form with zero. “Some taxpayers, influenced by such misconceptions, have been making false declarations regarding their income, expenditure, assets, and liabilities,” the release stated.

The NBR clarified that the Income Tax Act contains no provision for filing a “zero return.” Taxpayers are legally obligated to accurately declare their actual income, expenditure, assets, and liabilities in their returns. If the actual income is below the taxable threshold, no tax payment is required, but this does not permit the filing of a zero return.

The revenue authority stressed that “providing an accurate declaration of income, expenditure, assets, and liabilities is both a civic and legal duty of every taxpayer.” It urged all taxpayers to be “proud contributors to national development” by filing accurate returns and to “avoid falling into the trap of fraudulent zero return schemes circulated on social media,” thereby protecting themselves from imprisonment and financial penalties.

NBR sources revealed that in the last fiscal year, about 1.7 million taxpayers filed their returns online, with 70 percent of them owing no tax despite submitting returns. Currently, there are 11.2 million Tax Identification Number (TIN) holders, of whom around 4 million file returns annually. From the current fiscal year onward, all taxpayers will be required to file returns online.