SRB suspends sales tax registration of Customs agents

KARACHI: The Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) has suspended the sales tax registration of three clearing agents for defaulting liabilities and stopped them from undertaking Customs clearance business, sources said on Wednesday.
The provincial revenue board during the last two weeks has suspended registration of four clearing agents; however, in one case, the registration was revoked after receiving payments and tax returns, the sources said.
The board during the last two days suspended the registration of A&S Enterprises and Link International on the charges of their failure in complying with the obligation under the Sindh Sales Tax on Services Act, 2011 and related rules.
An official at the board said the provincial body also has the authority under the Sales Tax on Services Rules, 2011 to suspend registration of a person where it had committed any act of fraud or deliberate and intentional non-payment, short payment or evasion of tax.
The provincial body suspended the registration of A & S Enterprises on the information that it had processed 1,436 goods declaration during July 2011 to December 2013, but neither paid to the provincial government nor filed mandatory sales tax return.
The unit has been directed to pay outstanding liabilities for the period September 2011 to March 2013 and file sales tax return for the period September 2011 to October 2014, the official said.
The company has been given April 3 as deadline to comply with the tax notice and on failure the revenue body warned of penal action.
A day ago, the registration of Link International was suspended for not complying with the directives, as it had processed 878 goods declaration in the province. The company was given April 1, 2015 to meet the requirement to avoid penal action.
On March 13, the SRB suspended two units, Akram Associates and NR Enterprises for not declaring their business details and failure to make tax payments on services provided as Customs agents to the provincial government.
Akram Associates registration; however, revoked after the company paid the outstanding amount.
The official at the Sindh Revenue Board said during the suspension period the user ID and log-in would remain unavailable to the Customs agents to access Customs online system WeBOC.
The provincial revenue body has intimated the relevant authorities such as Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Appraisement West, Directorate General of Reform and Automation, Customs and FBR Inland Revenue offices. —Shahnawaz Akhter