NBR Makes ASYCUDA Data Mandatory for Income Tax Assessment

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has introduced a major technological reform to ensure the digitalization of tax administration and greater transparency in revenue management. Under the new measure, the use of information from the Customs’ Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) has been made mandatory in determining taxes.

To this end, the Income Tax Wing of the NBR issued a special directive on Thursday, March 4. Under this directive, officials of all tax zones under the Income Tax Wing must verify the actual value of imported goods of taxpayers and the amount of advance income tax paid at the import stage. For this purpose, the use of information from the Business Intelligence (BI) server of the ASYCUDA system has now been made compulsory.

According to the new directive, in important activities such as selecting cases for tax audit, approving the reopening of tax cases under the Income Tax Act, or correcting erroneous tax orders, the concerned Supervisory Range Officers must collect relevant information from this server. If a taxpayer is an importer, the range officer must verify the actual information regarding the quantity and value of the imported goods as well as the advance income tax paid at the import stage, and report it in writing to the concerned Circle Officer.

Currently, tax commissioners and supervisory range officers of the NBR have access to log into the server from their designated computers. At the initial stage, instead of granting direct access to tax assessment officers, the process has been designed so that information will be collected through the range officers. It has also been made mandatory to regularly record the collected information in a designated register.

As a result of this technological initiative, verifying the quantity, value, and advance income tax paid on imported goods by taxpayers during the settlement of income tax cases will become far easier and more accurate than before. This will enable advance income tax credits to be provided to taxpayers through a more transparent and accurate process, while also making the income tax refund process simpler and faster.

At the same time, this integrated system is expected to curb the tendency of tax evasion, which will indirectly accelerate national revenue collection. The NBR’s move to prioritize technology is being considered an important milestone in making the income tax administration more efficient and modern.

DBTech/SMEH/MUM/OR