ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday said it had integrated 5,783 point-of-sale (PoS) of 286 retailers with its database.
The information released by the bureau further says the sales tax invoices issued by those PoS are being reported to FBR in real-time.
According to a news release by FBR, the progress was possible only with the continuous effort of FBR and its field formations
In order to ensure correct reporting of sales by retailers and realization of due tax from them, FBR prescribed electronic integration of PoS of all tier-1 retailers of textile and leather sector in budget 2018-19.
Initially, the integration was optional and to encourage the same an incentive of reduced rate of sales tax was provided.
For integration, the retailers have to install software extension provided by FBR on their system, which ensures live reporting of sales tax to FBR’s server. Live integration was operationalized with effect from November 1, 2018.
One salient feature of the system is that a customer or tax officer can easily verify through FBR’s website or a mobile app that invoice issued by the retailer has been duly reported to the board and the tax charged thereon has been duly accounted for.
The provisions for mandatory integration of retailers were introduced in the Sales Tax Act, 1990, through the Finance Act, 2019, and proper rules were laid down. The deadline of December 15, 2019, was provided for all retailers to integrate their PoS with FBR.
Despite technical difficulties faced by retailers, the process of integration is proceeding smoothly.
FBR has conducted series of meeting, seminars and workshops across the country to educate and persuade retailers for integration. Focal persons have been notified in each Regional Tax Office (RTO) and Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) to assist and facilitate retailers.
Helpdesks have been established in the air-conditioned malls to educate and facilitate retailers. All support material has also been provided on PoS page of FBR’s website.
