The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to extend its fixed retailers scheme to 42 cities, implementing a minimum tax amount ranging from Rs100 to Rs10,000 per month, depending on shop valuation rates.
This move is part of the IMF program, which targets an annual collection of Rs50 billion from the retailers scheme in the current fiscal year.
The FBR has shared a detailed valuation of shop rates across 42 cities with retailer representatives. The proposed tax amounts range from Rs1,200 to Rs120,000 annually, based on shop valuations.
Although the FBR has yet to notify the expansion of the Tajir Dost Scheme from six to 42 cities, the initiative aims to introduce a fixed slab-based tax scheme for retailers. Previous attempts to bring retailers into the tax net had failed due to political pressures from shop owners.
The Tajir Dost Scheme initially launched voluntarily in six cities with a deadline of April 30, 2024, saw only 78 retailers register themselves. Despite continued efforts involving trader leaders, only 44,830 retailers have registered out of over 3 million nationwide.
Efforts to implement Point of Sale (PoS) machines in branded shops faced challenges due to inadequate technology, operational frameworks, and a fragmented approach within the FBR, hindering the success of IT-based solutions like PoS, Track & Trace, and Digital Invoicing.
