e-filing of ST returns mandatory from July 1: The News

Friday, April 25, 2008

By our correspondent

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Abdullah Yousuf on Thursday directed the sales tax collectorate to intensify its efforts to maximise revenue collection for meeting the revised target of Rs990 billion. Quarterly Conference of Collectors of Sales Tax & Federal Excise & Collectors (Appeals), held under the chairmanship of the Secretary General, Revenue Division & Chairman FBR has decided to make e-filing of sales tax returns mandatory from July 1, 2008. During the conference, it was informed that total sales tax collection in first nine months of current financial year (July-March) was Rs258.4 billion as compared to Rs218.4 billion in the corresponding period of the last financial year, showing an increase of Rs40 billion. Major sectors which have shown a positive growth as compared to last year were telecom (24.6 per cent), POL (48.9 per cent), natural gas (4.3 per cent), sugar (1.3 per cent), cigarettes (18.4 per cent), services (20.3 per cent), aerated waters/concentrate of beverages (24.9 per cent), iron & steel (112.2 per cent) etc. In federal excise, the total collection from July 2007 to March, 2008 (nine months) was Rs61.8 billion as compared to Rs.47.72 billion in the same period last year, indicating an increase of Rs14.08 billion. Major revenue spinners showing a positive growth were cigarettes (18.94 per cent), natural gas (8 per cent), services (252 per cent) etc. Speaking on the occasion, he emphasized on conducting sectoral research to identify the gap between the revenue potential existing in various sectors of the country and the taxes they were actually paying. He said “We have to narrow down this gap to enhance the sales tax and federal excise collection. To achieve this objective, we need to implement a comprehensive strategy”. Talking on the issue of sales tax refund claims, the chairman stressed the need of removing all the bottlenecks confronting the system to deal with the issue in an effective manner. “We must know what is actually to be paid,” he remarked. He, however, underlined the need of clearly identifying the level & type of the refund problem. All genuine refund claims must be cleared after due verification by the system and all efforts must be directed towards narrowing down the issue, Commenting on automation systems currently operating in various FBR offices, the chairman emphasized that all these systems must be effective, reliable and productive and give the desired results. “Incompleteness of the automated systems creates problems,” Yousuf observed. Revenue impact of new budgetary measures, taken in the last budget, was also reviewed during the conference and termed it satisfactory. Budget proposals for the year 2008-09, measures for expeditious feeding of sales tax returns, recovery of arrears, audit performance of Collectorate adjudication pendency etc. also came under discussion and necessary decisions were taken.

Original Link: e-filing of ST returns mandatory from July 1