Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has asked the power distribution companies (DISCOs) to update their data of industrial and commercial consumers as the existing data is not up to the mark. During the press conference at the FBR House here on Tuesday, FBR Member Inland and Revenue (Policy) Dr Hamid Ateeq Sarwar said that the FBR is coordinating with the DISCOs for updating the data of the electricity consumers in the country.
The FBR has informed the DISCOs that the data is very old as in most of the cases the connections are in the name of first registered persons and not in the name of the industrial and commercial consumers actually using the electricity. "We are asking the DISCOs to update their system which is also very critical for registration of the industrial and commercial consumers with the sales tax department," he said. The broader objective of the FBR is to bring 3.1 million commercial consumers of electricity into the tax net with the help of DISCOs.
The FBR has 4,000 integrated online stores, mostly famous and documented brands of cloths and shoes. These brands are documented with the FBR and provide online information to the FBR on real time basis. These retail outlets are paying lower rate of 14 percent sales tax.
Dr Hamid Ateeq Sarwar said that the FBR is in the process of issuing a new app "Track your Invoice" for the general public to verify the authenticity of the sales tax invoices issued by the retail outlets and shops across the county. The app "Track your Invoice" is not operational, but it would be made functional for invoice checking. It is an invoice verification system to determine whether the invoice is genuine or not.
The FBR will also depute tax officers at the shopping malls and retail outlets to verify the sales tax invoices issued by such outlets to the general public. After confirming the identity of the tax officer, the consumer can verify their invoices of retail sale through scanners. The FBR will also introduce the concept of "Cash Back Facility" for the general public who are paying 17 percent or 14 percent sales tax. The proposal is to return 5 percent sales tax by the online retail outlets to the concerned consumers with the help of this "Cash Back Facility." The "Cash Back Facility" is not operational yet, but it would bind the retail outlets to return back five percent of the tax paid to the consumer.
To a query, FBR Member IT said that the FBR has taken up the matter of fraudulent emails of refunds with the Cyber Crime Wing of the FIA. It is expected that the persons involved in this act would be identified and apprehended. The FBR does not send e-mail requesting Taxpayers PIN numbers, passwords or similar access information for credit cards, banks or other financial accounts.
To a query, FBR Member, Inland and Revenue (Policy) Dr Hamid Ateeq Sarwar said that there is no sales tax on books and copies as these sectors are zero-rated. Similarly, there is no sales tax on medicines and if anyone is demanding sales tax on books etc, it should be brought into the notice of the FBR. Within the category of retailers, the FBR will focus on retail outlets having electricity bill of Rs 600,000 and above per year and retail shops having size of 1,000 square feet and above for documentation purposes.
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