FBR to enforce retailers tax scheme in 42 cities

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to expand the fixed retailers scheme to 42 cities of the country with a minimum tax amount ranging from Rs100 to 10,000 per month, depending on the valuation rates of shops.

Under the IMF programme, the FBR has envisaged an annual collection of Rs50 billion from retailers scheme during the current fiscal year. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to visit the FBR headquarters on Saturday (today) to get a detailed briefing on the digitisation of FBR and the way forward for placing end-to-end connectivity for broadening the tax base.

Official sources said the FBR shared a detailed working of fair valuation rates of all 42 cities with the retailers representatives. A minimum tax of Rs1,200 to Rs120,000 was proposed for retailers depending on the valuation of shops across the country. “A detailed working has been done by the FBR and shared with retailers. Now the FBR chairman has taken the firm stand that all retailers will have to contribute to national kitty,” said the sources.

The FBR has not yet notified to expand the Tajir Dost Scheme from 6 to 42 cities. All schemes for bringing retailers had failed in the past mainly because the political leadership bowed before the pressure exerted by shutter owners/retailers. Based on the valuation of different markets in different cities, the FBR has proposed to introduce a fixed slab-based scheme for retailers in the tax net.

The FBR launched registration of the Tajir Dost Scheme voluntarily with the deadline of April 30, 2024, in selected six cities and only 78 retailers themselves registered. Then the FBR involved trader leader Naeem Mir and continued its registration drive. To-date, only 44,830 retailers have registered under the Tajir Dost Scheme, out of over 3 million retailers countrywide.

The Point of Sale (PoS) machines were installed in branded shops, but a lack of proper technology, operational framework and piecemeal approach within the ranks of FBR failed all IT-based solutions, including PoS, Track & Trace and Digital Invoicing.