Despite limited manpower and other facilities, the Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) collected more than Rs 11 billion during the five months of 2011 under the head of sales tax on services. Official sources told Business Recorder on Saturday that Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) has collected more than Rs 11 billion during the five months August, September, October, November and December 2011.
After the passage of 18th Constitutional Amendment on April 23, 2010, sales tax on services had come under the provincial jurisdiction. Sindh government established its own tax collection body with the name of SRB to collect sales tax on services which started its work from 1st July 2011 with the approval of Sindh Sales Tax on Services Act 2011 from Sindh Assembly.
Though, SRB initiated its work from 1st July 2011, yet it could not collect the sales tax on services of June 2011. It collected services tax of the month of July in August 2011, sources said. According to some details available to Business Recorder, Insurance sector has paid Rs 1.5 billion to SRB till 31st December 2011, while Terminal operators paid Rs 1.7 billion, Banks paid Rs 1.1 billion and Courier sector paid Rs 238 million to the SRB.
Similarly, the Telecommunication sector paid Rs 3.6 billion under the head of sales tax on services to SRB, Advertisement sector paid Rs 17.5 million excluding withholding, Stock brokers paid Rs 73 million, Customs agents paid Rs 155 million, Shipping agents paid Rs 30 million and Clubs paid Rs 25 million to SRB till 31st December 2011. Besides, Hotels paid Rs 229 million, Restaurants paid Rs 182 million, Construction sector paid Rs 3.6 million, Franchise and others paid Rs 474 million to Sindh Revenue Board during the five months of 2011.
When contacted, the spokesperson SRB told Business Recorder that Sindh could not collect the services tax of June 2011, that's why Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had collected about Rs 1.4 billion of Sindh in this regard. He said if we add said amount than the SRB can say that it collected more than Rs 12 billion under the head of sales tax on services during the 6 months of 2011.
He said that SRB has become successful in the tax collection and it has also discarded the perception that provinces could not collect the taxes on their own. He said that delegations of World Bank, European Union and many well-known economists including Dr Ishart Hussain, Shahid Javaid Burkey, Dr Kaiser Bengali and others visited the SRB and admired the performance shown by SRB's team despite limited facilities.
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