ISLAMABAD (February 09 2010): Detailed information on the business bank accounts of registered taxpayers would directly be available to the tax officials through the Sales Tax Automated Refund Repository System (Starr) for quick processing of refund claims.

Sources told Business Recorder on Monday that the taxpayers registered with Federal Board of Revenue e-portal would have to declare their relevant bank account numbers for registration. The information of the business account would be provided directly to the Starr system to verify it before issuance of refund claims.

Instead of getting bank account details such as account number, bank branch, etc, directly from the taxpayers, the Starr managers would have online access to the basic bank account information of the refund claimants. During a recent meeting on the FBR operational systems, officials of Large Taxpayer Units (LTUs) and Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) expressed their confidence in the Starr system due to its effective verification processes.

The system has matured over the last few years as with consistent involvement of the field offices, its functions have a higher acceptance level. However, it has been observed that interaction of Starr with data obtained through e-portal appears to be insufficient, especially with regard to information on bank accounts of the taxpayers.

The Starr system should be automatically populated with the bank account details declared by taxpayers in various forms through the e-portal. Therefore, the linkage between the FBR e-portal and the Starr system would be ensured for availability of necessary data about the bank accounts of the refund claimant. As the Starr has now been centralised, the support service pertaining to generation of customised-reporting of taxpayer's data would be enhanced, the FBR added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2010