The modified Virtual One-Stop Shop (VOSS) portal for integrated company and tax registration with the SECP and FBR has become functional.
The SECP assumed the ownership of the VOSS project in September 2016, and 446 companies registered under eServices were allotted national tax numbers between March 6, 2017 and April 4, 2017, on the basis of data provided by the SECP to FBR through VOSS.
VOSS is aimed at reducing the turnaround time for business start-ups, facilitating investors, and enhancing coordination of activities among the regulatory authorities by enabling mutual sharing of information through a unified web portal. The project was launched on the basis of recommendations made in the World Bank Starting a Business Report, which highlighted the need for unified registration process for major government agencies in Pakistan.
Earlier, after facing various technical issues in the VOSS software, the SECP modified the VOSS portal for resolution of the issues, and developed the web-services for utilization by FBR and EOBI in November 2016.
The NTN registration has been a stand-alone procedure under the ‘Starting a Business’ indicator of the World Bank’s Doing Business Report, but pursuant to the successful integration of eServices with the FBR system for NTN registration, the said procedure shall be combined with company registration.
This integration will not only provide facilitation to the investors, it will also reduce the number of procedures for business start-up as outlined in the 2017 World Bank’s report, which is likely to improve the doing business ranking of the country in the coming years.
