LAHORE: Chief Commissioner Regional Tax Office (RTO) Lahore Nasir Iqbal Khan has issued instructions for monitoring of sales of those Tier-1 Retailers (T-1Rs) who are resisting integration with Point of Sale (POS) system, said sources.

Accordingly, monitoring teams have been constituted by the commissioners of Inland Revenue and deputed on a leading ornament store and a bakery. These teams would compile a detail report of production as well as sales for the chief commissioner, they added.

It may be noted that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is actively pursuing T-1Rs for POS integration. So far, 2,500 retailers have linked over 15,000 machines with the tax system despite aggressive campaign by the Board. So far as the Corporate Tax Office (CTO) is concerned, the integration of retail outlets in the areas of leather, shoe and textile has gained momentum because of a strong corporate culture in these sectors.

Already, documentation of trading activities is well organized in these sectors. However, according to sources, the RTO is facing trouble in dealing with non-corporate sectors because of the absence of documentation trends. Therefore, monitoring teams have been constituted to pursue them on a faster pace.

However, the Board has taken notice of harassing taxpayers under the POS integration, as a letter dated on 17th December had directed to integrate only the ‘eligible’ Tier-1 Retailers (T-1Rs).

The sources said the Board has taken stock of a lot of litigation on the part of taxpayers because of the issuance of unnecessary notices to retailers. It has directed that only the names of those retailers should be proposed for sales tax general orders (STGOs), which are eligible for integration but have not yet integrated.

The Board issues STGOs each month along with a list of integrate-able T-1Rs who have not yet integrated. It has directed all the large tax offices (LTOs), corporate tax offices (CTOs) and RTOs that they would have to ensure that the eligible T-1Rs are registered with FBR under the Sales Tax Act, 1990 and have sales tax registration numbers (STRNs).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021