Govt documenting economy to increase tax generation.

Byline: Imran Ali Kundi

ISLAMABAD -- The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Tuesday said that incumbent government is working for documentation of the economy by bringing more sales tax filers in the tax system as currently only 41,000 people are filing sales tax in the country.

Senior officials of the FBR informed the Senate Standing Committee on Commerce and Textile that only 41,000 people are filing sales tax in the country, which is very low. While the number of commercial activity holders is much higher. The government is taking measures for documentation of economy, which would encourage more and more people to get them registered.

The parliamentary committee has discussed the matter of problems faced by local manufacturers, spinners, weavers, traders and exporters with regard to input tax, GST mechanism for local turnover tax, ID card payment issues and the additional 10 percent tax imposed on traders as well as status of refunds under new system and problems in submission of annexure-H. Member FBR told the meeting that FBR holds a meeting every Monday with all five sectors of textile industry to address their problems on a regular basis. He said that there are problems in filing of Annexure H but people are learning. He also told that 561 refund claims of five sectors were received till Monday morning and 287 were processed and cleared last week.

The Committee was assured by Member FBR that FBR is willing to sit with all association representatives and manufacturers/exporters etc to resolve their issues regarding inspection teams coming to outlets and not headquarters, giving time and assistance for becoming part of the integrated scanning mechanism and revision of sales tax percentage. This system will help consumers check if the taxes they pay are transferred to the government or not.

The Senate Standing Committee on Commerce and Textile, which was held under the chairmanship of Senator Mirza Muhammad Afridi, has also discussed the issue of imposition of taxes on import of Apple from districts Taftan and Chaghi in Balochistan giving way to smuggling of Apple fruit. The mover Senator Kauda Babar told the committee that this problem is arising mainly due to absence of quarantine offices who can streamline the process of import through proper taxation. Representatives from customs and food security department told the committee that the quarantine act was in place since 1976 but wasn't being implemented but since 2017 it's been made...