Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and all the four Provincial Revenue Authorities have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a single sales tax return and single web portal.

The development is one of the most significant components of harmonization of sales tax initiative currently underway between the Federation and the provinces, said FBR in a statement.

On behalf of FBR, the MoU was signed by Chairman FBR whereas the heads of all provincial revenue authorities signed the document on behalf of their respective departments. The representatives of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority (KPRA) and Balochistan Revenue Authority (BRA) were physically present in the ceremony whereas the representatives of Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) and Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA) participated virtually through Zoom.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Revenue Dr. Waqar Masood Khan in his address said that the signing of the document was another step towards the completion of the Prime Minister’s vision to make FBR fully automated.

“This step will bring facilitation for taxpayers and it will help a great deal in improving the country’s position on ‘Ease of Doing Business Index,” he added.

SAPM on Revenue further added that now persons associated with businesses would only have to file one Sales Tax Return instead of many returns. He further said that this step would help bring simplification in the tax system and procedure.

He expressed commitment that other issues currently existing between FBR and Provincial Revenue Authorities would soon be resolved which would further bring ease for the business community. The Chairman FBR expressed his views about the facilitation this MOU will provide to taxpayers and that it would lead to simplification of the tax system and related procedures.