KARACHI: The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unisame) has urged Federal Finance and Revenue Minister Shaukat Tarin to extend the last date to file income tax returns for the year 2020/21 till October 31, 2021, a statement said on Monday.

Unisame president Zulfikar Thaver said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is well-aware of the facts that the coronavirus pandemic has affected many people and has not spared the income tax practitioners nor their staff and many applicants are also suffering and are in no position to focus on other matters due to weakness and immobility.

Secondly, there are glitches in the system and due to overload it is slow and inefficient.

Thaver requested the finance minister to consider the matter and tell the FBR not to consider their request and kindly accommodate the applicants who really and truly deserve to be accommodated because of the pandemic and its harsh impact on the society.

An extension in the returns filing date will facilitate the filers and make them comfortable, he added.

If need be, the FBR could fix a small late fee for returns filed after September 30, 2021 but accept all the returns till October 31, 2021, he added.