LAHORE: The Large Tax Office (LTO) Lahore has achieved 100 percent integration of major bakeries with Point of Sale (POS) system, said sources.

Major brands like Alfatah, Jalal Sons, Gourmet, Cakes & Bakes and others falling under the category of Tier-1 retailers have been integrated with POS, they added.

Meanwhile, the sources said, the LTO Lahore has also integrated another 91 Tier-1 retailers in textile, leather and shoe sectors while only two more are left in the row to finalize the process.

This number was limited to 40 in the month of August, followed by an aggressive campaign and doubling the integration in the next two months. The sources have also confided to Business Recorder that the LTO has imposed Rs29 million fines against the violators besides sealing the premises.

They said majority of the violators had failed to respond to the departmental notices for integration with POS system. A total of 27 retailers were fined by the department, they said, adding that the fines range in between Rs 500,000 to Rs 3 million.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has also announced a prize scheme mechanism for consumers to promote purchase of consumer items through POS integrated machines. Also, the Board has announced an attraction of imposing 12 percent sales tax on all the invoices generated through POS system against 17 percent GST. The sources said the department has also launched a campaign to promote POS system amongst consumers by installing informative banners in leading shopping malls in the city. They said the consumers should ensure that the retailers are issuing invoices with a QR code on it to avail the facility. Similarly, they said, the Tier-1 retailers have been facilitated to pay 16 percent GST against invoices generated through the system.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021