Islamabad: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has announced that it will be initiating the installation of automated ‘Point of Sale’ (POS) systems at luxury shopping malls and tier-1 retail chains from December 1 – according to news sources. As per the publication, structures that are at least 1,000 square feet in size have been selected for this purpose; with the tax authority continuing with its efforts to bring big retailers into the tax net.
Steps like this showcase the government’s commitment to document the sales of all major retailers that may be evading billions of rupees worth of taxes through various methods. In this regard, the federal department has decided to pursue over 17,000 large retail businesses across the country. The new system is also expected to eliminate the hassles that arise from interactions between retailers and FBR officials.
Chairman FBR Syed Shabbar Zaidi has advised all large scale retail operations to integrate the new system. He made these comments through his official social media accounts.
For now, 3,500 big retailers have been registered with the system. The computerized machines installed at these select locations forward the details of all the sales made by the stores, to the FBR’s internal system for tax collection, in real-time.
Officials of the FBR have implied that businesses that attempt to avoid the use of the POS system may face strict penalties. They have also encouraged buyers at retail outlets to ask for electronic receipts — providing them with the incentive of gift schemes that are expected to be distributed through ballots.
It is estimated that the FBR will generate around PKR 20 billion in taxes after the implementation of the POS systems and other similar measures.
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