TUESDAY JANUARY 18: Government lacks will to implement STLDS

ISLAMABAD: The prolonged delay in the implementation of the Sales Tax Lucky Draw Scheme (STLDS) for general consumers is a glaring example of absence of strong government will to streamline the documentation of the economy. Sources told Business Recorder here on Monday that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is unlikely to introduce Sales Tax Lucky Draw Scheme (STLDS), which was considered to be a major measure for documentation of the economy.
The scheme was duly approved by the Board-in-council of the FBR and a steering committee was constituted to implement the scheme. The budget for the scheme was also approved by the Finance Ministry, but now there seemed to be lack of interest by the tax authorities for timely launching of the scheme.
Sources said that the Law and Justice Division has not yet vetted the statutory regulatory order (SRO) of the STLDS. It is unclear whether the scheme would be implemented for documentation of potential sectors or not. The idea of the STLDS was taken from Turkey where such scheme is applicable. Keeping in view the existing status of the STLDS, it seemed that the tax authorities are no more interested in launching of the scheme in near future.
Sources said that the Board had finalised all arrangements for launching of the STLDS-2011 from January 1, 2011 under the national drive for the documentation of the economy. The computerisation, software development and awareness campaign is ready for the launching of the new scheme. However, the FBR cannot notify the Sales Tax Lucky Draw Rules-2011 till the Law Division vet the SRO covering the legal aspects of the scheme. Now, instead of January 1, 2011, the scheme is expected to be launched by Mid-January or February 2011.
The scheme aims at achieving objectives for the restaurants/food outlets sector including promoting documentation; help in plugging of revenue leakages; increased voluntary sales tax registration; broaden tax base through invoice based information and create a data bank to deter tax evasion. According to the draft of the Sales Tax Lucky Draw Rules-2011, this is the first Consumer Incentive Scheme of its sort to be launched by FBR.
FBR endeavours to cover restaurants and similar food outlets, registered under Sales Tax Act 1990, through a lucky draw scheme in order to encourage voluntary registration of all those who are liable to pay/collect sales tax and to ensure that the tax deducted is also deposited into government treasury.