A large number of service providing companies identified by Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) in a move to enhance tax base failed to update their postal addresses, which is now the biggest hurdle for SRB, Business Recorder learnt on Wednesday.
A senior official of SRB told this scribe that to broaden tax net, SRB had identified 8685 service providing companies and individuals but the companies and individuals failed to update their postal addresses which became the biggest hurdle in the work of provincial tax-collection-body.
A few weeks ago, the Intelligence and Survey wing of SRB completed its initial work and provided a list of 8685 companies and individuals in various taxable sectors to the operation wing of SRB to help them start further process in order to get them under the umbrella of sales tax on services, he said.
According to the list, he told that Intelligence and Survey wing identified 240 service providing companies and individuals in sectors of Telecommunication and Franchise, 213 companies in Advertisement, 99 companies in Courier, 16 in Banks, 33 companies in Insurance, 18 in Non-Banking, 2 in Investment Banks and 12 in Investment Advisory.
Besides, only one in Foreign Exchange, 46 in Stock Brokers, 5 in Modarba, 12 in Brokerage, 514 in Hotels, 2629 in Restaurants and Cafes, 53 in Clubs, 495 in caterers, 54 in Terminal Operators, 1142 in Custom Agents, 41 in stevedores, 337 in construction and 961 in property developers/ builders, he added.
He further told that the concerned wing had identified 691 service providing companies and individuals in the field of contractual execution, 338 in freight forwarders, 107 in ship chandeliers, 404 shipping agents, 75 CA's and audit sector, 76 contractors, 31 guest houses and 68 Forex dealers.
Following this, when SRB issued "notices for registration" to the said companies and individuals, it came to know that a large number of notices came back to SRB with a note that "postal address was not correct", he informed. Keeping in view this situation, SRB has established a field teams consisting people recruited on contingency basis, which are going directly on the addresses of companies and individuals and trying to drop the notices to right persons. But the "changes in postal addresses" is still a big challenge for the SRB to increase its tax-base, and we are trying our level best to deal with this issue," he vowed.
It may be noted here that I&S wing had identified the said number of service providing companies and individuals from the data provided by PRAL, FBR, E&T and EOBI, internet searching and newspapers. In the beginning, the SRB received a list of 4309 taxpaying companies and individuals from the officials concerned of FBR.