Corporate Companies Now Required to Submit Compliance Certificate: SECP

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has made it compulsory for the corporate sector to submit compliance certificate regarding its returns under Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

In a major move to ensure income tax return filing by companies, the SECP has issued SRO 1048 (I)/2019 on Monday to notify Companies (Submission of Information regarding Income Tax Return) General Order, 2019. The specified categories of companies will need to submit the compliance certificate to the SECP registrar under Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

The compliance certificate would ensure that companies certify whether they are compliant with the requirement of filing of income tax returns under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 for the current tax year or not.

The SECP order shall apply to companies specified in Schedule I annexed to the order and shall be applicable for the financial year ended/ending on or after June 30, 2019.

Each company specified in Schedule-I to the order shall file a compliance certificate with the registrar in the form as specified in Schedule II with respect to its status of compliance with the requirements of filing of the income tax returns under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

The compliance certificate shall be signed by the chief executive officer of the company or by the person duly authorized by the company to sign the annual return.

Any contravention of the requirements of this order shall be an offense liable to a penalty as provided under sub-section (2) of section 238 of the Act.

The first category of companies is the single-member company or a private company having a paid-up capital of not more than three million rupees where there is no change of particulars in the last annual return filed with the registrar and is not required to file an annual return.

The second category is the company (other than a company mentioned above) where there is no change of particulars in the last annual return filed with the registrar and is not required to file an annual return.

The third category covers the companies required to file an annual return, i.e. where there is a change of particulars in the last annual return filed with the registrar.