Federal Board of Revenue has released the information about the number of Point of Sales integrated with the FBR System. According to the released information, so far 5,783 POSs of 286 retailers have been integrated with FBR and the sales tax invoices issued by these POSs are being reported to FBR in real-time. This progress has been made possible with the continuous effort of FBR and its field formations.
In order to ensure correct reporting of sales by retailers and realization of due tax from them, FBR prescribed electronic integration of points of sales (POSs) of all tier-1 retailers of textile and leather sector in budget 2018-19. Initially, the integration was optional and to encourage the same an incentive of reduced rate of sales tax was provided. For integration, the retailers have to install software extension provided by FBR on their system, which ensures live reporting of sales tax to FBR’s server. Live integration was operationalized with effect from 1st November 2018. One salient feature of the system is that a customer or tax officer can easily verify through FBR’s website or a mobile app that invoice issued by the retailer has been duly reported to the Board and the tax charged thereon has been duly accounted for.
The provisions for mandatory integration of retailers were introduced in the Sales Tax Act, 1990, through the Finance Act, 2019, and proper rules were laid down. The deadline of 15th December, 2019, was provided for all retailers to integrate their POSs with FBR.
Despite technical difficulties faced by the retailers, the process of integration is proceeding smoothly. FBR has conducted series of meeting, seminars and workshops across the country to educate and persuade retailers for integration. Focal persons have been notified in each RTO / LTU to assist and facilitate retailers. Helpdesks have been established in air-conditioned malls to educate and facilitate retailers. All support material has also been provided on FBR’s website on its POS page.
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