Budget proposes CNIC details in shopping bills

ISLAMABAD: The FBR has proposed disallowing invoices which do not have Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC) details through Finance Bill 2019-20.

The Finance Bill 2019-20 proposes that the invoices should bear CNIC of the buyer. The bill also proposes to disallow the invoices which do not bear the CNIC of the buyer claiming input tax paid. This will help to eradicate the fraudulent use of fake and flying invoices as only the genuine buyer of the goods will be able to claim the input tax paid. The bill also proposes that the particulars in the invoice may be in English or Urdu. Currently there is no restriction of language for invoice.

There is a lot of resistance coming out from the business community against this proposal of the Finance Bill 2019-20. It is yet to see whether the government will be able to pass it through the parliament or succumb to the pressure of the business community because this step is aimed at discouraging fraudulent invoices.

The FBR has also proposed to charge 3 percent value addition sales tax on all sorts of imported goods for use in industrial process that are subject to customs duty except two slabs of 16 percent and 20 percent.

The Finance Bill 2019-20 tabled before the Parliament inserted twelfth schedule into sales tax act. When contacted to FBR’s Spokesman Dr Hamid Ateeq Sarwar on Friday, he said that the FBR excluded certain provision of law from special procedures and made it part of the sales tax law. This proposed change, he said, did not have any revenue impact because there is no increase in tax.