The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has issued the new policy guidelines to the collectorates for effective monitoring of sugar mills activities. As per new guidelines, the collectorates would collect data from the mills in their respective areas on fortnightly basis on sugarcane procurement, sugar produced and sales tax paid by each mill.
The CBR has also asked the collectorates to check middleman presence and engage the provincial Cane Commissioners to take strict action on buying of sugarcane at weighing bridges outside their premises.
Sources said the CBR guidelines were issued by the federal government after discussing the matter in two meetings. The first meeting was held in the ministry of Industries and Production and the second in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
Sources said that the authorities took serious notice of unregistered buying of sugarcane and decided to strictly check this unlawful practice.
The CBR informed the meeting that several mills were involved in illegal buying of sugarcane at weighing bridges. It added that sugar mills tax evasion resulted in Rs 1.5 billion loss in revenue last year only.
On CBR recommendations, the provincial Cane Commissioners were directed to take strict measures to abolish unauthorised buying of sugarcane and check the presence of middleman in order to eliminate them from the field. It urged for effective monitoring of sugar production and collection of sales tax.
The provinces were also asked to ensure procurement of sugarcane only on the mill gate against proper indent and making the payment through the banks mandatory. The meeting also approved the sugarcane pricing mechanism on the basis of sucrose contents.
Currently, sugarcane procurement and making payment to the growers bases on the weight of sugarcane. The authorities are confident that cane samples would increase total sugar production.
The meeting decided to effectively monitor sugarcane yield, sugar production and collection of sales tax thereon. It also decided that a fortnightly cane purchase statement will be collected from the mills.
The collectorates were advised to keep close liaison with the sugar mills and Cane Commissioner of their respective jurisdiction for effective implementation of the decision.