New ST applicants: registration within 10 days after submission of applications

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to register new sales tax applicants within 10 days after submission of applications. Sources told Business Recorder here on Thursday that the sales tax registration would be provided within 10 days in cases where documentation was complete to facilitate the taxpayers.
The FBR has also decided to implement a new system to allow the representatives of the persons, who are abroad, to collect the sales tax registration certificates. It has been agreed by the Tax Facilitation Committee of the FBR that a taxpayer should not suffer if he was not in the country and was unable to collect the certificate in person. It has been decided to devise an alternative method for delivery of certificate in this regard.
The sources said that the major reason of delay in issuance of sales tax registration certificate was the physical verification of the declared business address of the applicant. In many cases, it took over 1-3 months for physical verification of the declared addresses. When an application is filed with the Central Registration Office (CRO), it is forwarded to the field formations for physical verifications or obtaining necessary documents.
It is necessary for the taxpayers to fill the all columns of the application form to avoid unnecessary delays in issuance of certificates. On the pattern of income tax electronic filing, the FBR would provide facility to the taxpayers to know about the actual status of registration through online facility. The FBR decided to take new steps to revise the sales tax registration process to deliver the certificates within 10 days.
Firstly, the FBR would provide a new facility to the business community to electronically file applications for obtaining sales tax registration certificates. The original concept of one unified registration form is to expedite process of speedy registration.
Secondly, the system of electronic feeding of applications at the level of headquarters would be replaced with the feeding process in the field formations. At the level of Regional Tax Office (RTOs), tax officials can immediately inform the new applicants about the problems being faced during the registration process.
Thirdly, the FBR would address the issue of accurate shortage of staff at the Central Registration Office, which is responsible to handle the applications on national level. The limitation of the CRO is a big hurdle in timely issuance of certificates. It is astonishing to note that only one land line phone number is available for the taxpayers, who wanted to know about the status of their applications.
Many new applicants were unable to contact the CRO due to availability of only one phone line with the concerned official. Fourthly, the FBR call centre should be linked with the unified registration system, electronically. This would enable the new applicants to know the status of their applications.