The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to issue a simplified sales tax registration procedure for the new applicants, enhancing the role of the Local Registration Offices (LROs) in Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) to facilitate the business and trade community.
Sources told Business Recorder here on Tuesday that the role of the Central Registration Office (CRO) FBR House Islamabad would be restricted to the issuance of the registration number and all the processing would be done by the respective LROs in each city. The new applicants would not be required to repeatedly visit the CRO FBR House for responding to various queries of the Board as well as the field formations.
The role of the LROs at each RTO would be enhanced so that the taxpayers would be able to complete the formalities at the level of the field formations without coming to Islamabad. This major facilitation measure would allow the LROs to accept new applications for STRNs and verify the particulars including physical verification of the business premises. The CRO of the FBR would issue the STRNs on the basis of information provided by the field offices.
At present the new applicants have to follow a cumbersome procedure for obtaining new Sales Tax Registration Numbers (STRNs). Under the existing procedure, Central Registration Office (CRO) FBR House has to play the primary role of issuing new STRNs to the applicants. The applications of new registrations have to go from the CROs to the LROs in each city for physical verification of business premises and later such verification of the RTOs is sent back to the CRO, which is a time consuming process.
In order to ensure timely processing of the applications for obtaining new sales tax registration numbers, the role of the CRO and LRO to be clearly defined. Moreover, the LRO would be allowed to take also necessary steps to ensure speedy processing of new sales tax applications and physical verifications of the business premises etc. However, there would be strict check on the field formations to ensure that nobody should unnecessarily delay the applications for new STRNs. The FBR will take strict disciplinary action against the tax officer or official involved in creating unnecessary delay in processing the applications of the new STRNs.
Sources added that it is one of the major measures being taken by the tax authorities to address the genuine problems of the new taxpayers, who are ready to operate under the documented regime. The simplification of sales tax registration procedure would further expand the tax net and encourage people to come into the sales tax regime by obtaining the STRNs through a simple but foolproof mechanism.