FBR to Streamline Sales Tax Return Process Starting with Telecom Sector

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has taken a positive step towards streamlining the sales tax return process across different jurisdictions in Pakistan. In an effort to enhance the ease of doing business in the country, the FBR has decided to implement a single sales tax (ST) return portal initially for the telecom sector, with plans to expand to other sectors once technical issues have been resolved.

To facilitate the development of the single portal, a committee has been formed comprising experienced officers from the FBR and technical resources from the Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA). The committee will also consult with telecom service providers, tax bars, and provincial revenue authorities to ensure that all stakeholders are represented.

Committee Members:

Tariq Iqbal, Secretary (Law and Clarification), FBR, Faisal Sulaiman Senior Business Analyst, PRAL, Islamabad; Farheen Azhar Senior Manager (Commercial Projects), PRAL, Islamabad, Shahid Sharif Manager (Development), PRAL, Islamabad.

The committee’s tasks include studying the current process of filing ST returns, identifying similarities and differences between FBR and PRA processes, and designing and supervising software development by PRAL. The committee will also conduct user acceptance testing to ensure that the portal is user-friendly and efficient.

We anticipate that the implementation of the single sales tax return portal will not only simplify tax filing for businesses but also improve the overall tax collection system in Pakistan. The committee has been given a deadline of June 30, 2023, for the implementation of the single sales tax return portal for the tax period of July 2023.

The committee shall be at liberty to associate any resource from PRAL and field formations of FBR for consultation with different stakeholders- telecom service providers, tax bars, and Provincial Revenue Authorities (PRAs) as and when required. The committee shall complete the assigned task by June 30, 2023, for the implementation of a single sales tax return for the tax period of July 2023.

The ToRs of the committee shall be as follows:

(i) Examine the existing method for filing sales tax returns by FBR and PRAs.

(ii) Identify the similarities and differences between FBR and PRA sales tax returns, including the business processes, rules, and controls.

(iii) To confer with all interested parties, including but not limited to tax payer representatives, tax bar associations, and field formations of FBR and PRAs.

(iv) To prepare software design and monitor PRAL’s software development.

(v) Conduct user Acceptance Testing with the stakeholders for the deployment of the single portal for submitting Sales Tax returns.

(vi) Perform user Acceptance Testing with the stakeholders for the deployment of the single portal for submitting Sales Tax returns.

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