Law and order situation in NWFP: FBR suspends survey of shopping centres, business units

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has stopped survey of big shopping centres and business establishments in NWFP keeping in view law and order situation in the province. Sources told Business Recorder here on Tuesday that the survey teams of the FBR had started survey of major business units and potential retailers/ wholesalers to register potential persons under the exercise to document the national economy.
The survey was simultaneously started in all four provinces last month for obtaining basic information about the units engaged in business activities in posh areas.
The FBR had also constituted Task Force in each Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) and Regional Tax Offices (RTO) for carrying out survey of leasing shops, service providers and business centres in posh areas. In view of current law and order situation in NWFP, the FBR has barred to survey teams from visiting business markets in Peshawar and other areas falling within the jurisdiction of the NWFP. The survey would continue in remaining provinces, ie Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan.
Under the procedure for conducting survey, the Task Force comprises Commissioner Enforcement or Member Information Processing (IP), Additional Commissioner Enforcement and two deputy commissioners of income tax. The whole exercise has been personally supervised by the Chief Commissioner Inland Revenue. On the basis of lists of units being provided by the board, Task Force has identified units for conducting survey.
The survey covered both the registered and un-registered business units to bring all potential persons into the tax net. The officials involved in the survey exercise have also sought help of the trade bodies and associations to ensure transparency in the whole process.
The FBR had already announced scheme, ie "Scheme for Fiscal Relief to Rehabilitation the economic life in the areas most affected and moderately affected from war on terror in NWFP, Fata and Pata". It covered exemption from payment/recovery of withholding taxes along with monthly electricity bills from commercial and industrial consumers located in the war affected areas of NWFP up to June 30, 2011. The cases of commercial as well as industrial consumers located in the most/moderately was affected areas shall be exempted from recovery/payment of withholding taxes along with monthly electricity bills.
Under the additional tax relief package, the FBR has also announced exemption of withholding tax on the import of plant and machinery by the importers of most war affected areas and moderately affected areas up to June 30, 2011.