The Active Taxpayers List (ATL) of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is showing 4.2 million income tax return filers which is the highest-ever number in history of FBR.
FBR’s data revealed that ATL (income tax) status for the Tax Year 2022 stood at over 4.2 million as on July 27, 2023.
The Active Taxpayers List (ATL) is projected to reach 5 million by February 28, 2024, primarily driven by the increase in withholding tax rates across various sectors as per the Finance Act 2023, according to tax experts.
The ATL for Tax Year (TY) 2018 reached 1.8 million, which increased to 2.4 million for TY 2019 and later increased to 2.9 million for tax year 2020 and 4 million in TY 2021. In tax year 2022 all the previous records have been broken and ATL now stood at 4.2 million.
The process of getting listed under the Active Taxpayer’s List (ATL) involves several steps. The non-filer needs first to file their return for Tax Year 2023.
Subsequently, a penalty of Rs 1,000 must be paid to open the previous year’s IRIS return filing window, enabling the individual to file their return and be included in the ATL to avoid double withholding tax rates applicable on non-filers.
It is worth mentioning that FBR has set a target of registering 300,000 new taxpayers. However, some professionals have deemed this figure unrealistic.
