Changes in the wake of technological advancement have revolutionized many aspects of our daily lives. Gone are the days when people had to stand in long queues in extreme weather conditions just to wait for their turn at a public office. Digitization has become an essential part of facilitating the public in a better way and switching to better governance. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has also taken a step forward in the direction of technological advancements and developed a Single Sales Tax Portal for all the tax filers in Pakistan.
This blog gives a brief overview of the unified portal for sales tax along with the reasons why it was important to develop and launch such a system.
About FBR’s Single Sales Tax Portal
The new single sales tax portal being developed will simplify the procedure and bring people to ease in terms of filing their tax returns. What was happening till now is that the taxpayers had to file their taxes in different provinces where the business was conducted. The complexity in the process of filing monthly sales tax returns in every tax jurisdiction where the business was conducted often led to discrepancies, complications, and disputes.
Taxpayers registered in different tax jurisdictions had to file taxes separately at FBR, Sindh Revenue Board, Punjab Revenue Authority, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority, and Balochistan Revenue Authority. People who conducted businesses in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan also had to submit their returns to their respective authorities too. The whole process of filing tax returns in every province required a lot of time and effort to get things right and be compliant.
The unified sales tax portal will now make things easier for the taxpayers while they are filing their tax returns. Making a single portal removes the hassle of filing taxes in every tax jurisdiction and eliminates the chances of complications and disputes due to jurisdiction. Furthermore, the single sales tax portal simplifies the process, minimizes calculation errors by reducing the requirement of data entry, and reduces compliance costs of the taxpayers.
The system will now automatically apportion input tax adjustments as well as the tax payments across relevant tax authorities. This not only saves time but also increases the efficiency of the department and ease of doing business.
Benefits Of Becoming A Tax Filer
Filing sales tax returns is important for everyone who is registered under the Sales Act 1990 or Federal Excise Act 2005. Individuals earning more than a specific amount are required to file their income tax returns. Once a person becomes a filer, a national tax number (NTN) is allotted to them by the government and through that number, the FBR knows if you are an active taxpayer.
While this is mandatory for the people who fulfill the criteria, it is also beneficial for them. As an incentive to the taxpayers, there are different reliefs a person can enjoy if they actively file their returns on an annual basis. Let’s briefly explore these benefits of becoming a tax filer in Pakistan. All these benefits mentioned below are in comparison to the non-filers.
- Withholding tax cuts down to half
- Tax filers can own property of value below, equivalent and above PKR 5 million whereas non-filers can only buy up to PKR 5 million in value
- The tax to be paid on imports of raw materials reduces significantly for the taxpayers
- Tax charges on dividends received are significantly lower
- An overpaid tax that has been withheld can be claimed
- Low rate of tax on buying and selling of property
This brings us to the end of this blog. For more updates on new taxation and governing laws in Pakistan, keep following Zameen Blog.
